A Demon at Elm Tree House
by BizarrePineapple15
Summary: Elm Tree House, 2012... a new kid, Demon Traylen, is arriving at Elm Tree House. How will he cope, with escape attempts, hitchhiking, speeding cars, fires, previously unknown siblings and fights along the way? COMPLETE
1. Me

**A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 1: Me**

Let's get one thing straight: I didn't exactly mean to attack that stupid monkey of a foster dad as violently as I did. He _so _provoked me. And, I mean, I've lived in care for nearly all my life. I'm bound to get a bit frustrated. What did he expect? Did he think I'd just be fine when he said he was going to stop fostering me, for personal reasons? He didn't even tell me anything about it until the day before he was planning to put me back in care. The skanky old idiot.

I'm Demon Traylen... care kid. God I hate those words. They just make me feel so... so angry. Well actually... you can go up to about forty careworkers who'll say I feel angry towards everything. It's really not my fault. Anger issues, that's what the doctors all say. I have black hair, which sort of hangs down my face in strands. I can't really describe it. Everybody says it's very long and makes me look a bit like Michael Jackson, which is a bit freaky. I'm eleven, nearly twelve.

I was born... somewhere, I don't know if I'm honest. I'm sure it was in England, I just don't know where. My dad died when I was two, so I lived with my mum for a bit, but she turned out to be a bit of a psychopath, so... well, anyway. By the time they took her away to a psychopath ward at the hospital I'd just turned three, and I was carted off to a stinking care home. Believe it or not, that care home was to be the first of thirty-three I've had the misfortune of living in.

In eight years I got through care home and care home. I only lasted two days in one care home, when I was eight. It wasn't my fault. The... _obese_... careworker Angelo fell down the stairs. He was not pushed. At all.

In another care home, there was only me, and two other kids who didn't talk much. One time, I was in Burnywood for about three months. I was nine, and it was – so cool, cause everybody was frightened of me. Burnywood is supposed to be the legend of care homes, and it's really dodgy. But Burnywood's been burnt down now. Fortunately, I wasn't involved in the fire.

So, for eight years, I was going from care home to care home, scaring all the residents and being kicked out for attacking people. But then, when I was eleven, a miracle happened. A young couple actually wanted to foster me. Yep, I could not believe it. And neither could any of the other kids I was living with. They didn't like me anyway. There was one called Mal. He was my worst enemy. The Hendersons were a relatively nice foster family. They were quiet patient with me; obviously they knew about my anger problems, so they tagged along with what I was doing and didn't say much about it.

Anyway, yeah, I was fostered by the Hendersons for five months. To tell you the truth, it was quite enjoyable sometimes. When I first arrived with them, I was a tad nervous, but that was probably because it was my first foster family I've ever had. I soon got used to the polite ways of Mr and Mrs Henderson. And they didn't have children, so there was no sharing or anything. But then, five months after I got fostered, me and Mr. Henderson had a slight argument. And... I punched him. Quite violently. But he provoked me, he totally provoked me.

So, I got sent off to Elm Tree House. It was the only care home in the area willing to take me. _Am I really so bad that every care home in the area, except one, doesn't want to take me in? Cool. I've got a _reputation, I thought.

This... is my story. The ups and downs of living in Elm Tree House. I'll be writing about nearly everything – all the squabbles and fights, all the awkward moments, all the secrets about the kids that I've somehow managed to accumulate. I'll talk about the times I tried to run away, my ongoing fight against my arch-enemy Johnny Taylor, my slight crush on one of the residents and my friendship with Elektra (which went slightly awry at one point). Not a detail of anybody's lives will go unnoticed.

You might be thinking... why am I writing about my experiences at Elm Tree House? Well, partly because I've been at 'the Dumping Ground', as it's known as, for longer than I've spent at any other care home. And also... because I just know that... Elm Tree is special.

**Next chapter**

**HELLO, ELM TREE HOUSE**


	2. Hello, Elm Tree House

**A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 2: Hello, Elm Tree House**

_Sheesh, big door _I thought as my sleazy careworker Brett rapped on the door in question. God, it was a huge door. At Dragonfire Care Home, my last care home before I got fostered, the home of the aforementioned idiotic Mal, the door could barely allow a ten-year-old to squeeze through. _Why the heck am I thinking about doors? _I pondered to myself nervously. _I must be nervous. What is wrong with me? I'm never nervous._

Elm Tree House was very big, and its presence indicated by a wooden sign reading 'ELM TREE HOUSE' in brown lettering. It had at least ten windows visible from where I was standing. Surrounding the house was a large garden.

I had a trunk full of my stuff, which lay in the boot of the silver Lexus belonging to Brett, and a backpack which I was carrying. I was wearing a white T-shirt, with a red unbuttoned shirt and a dark brown jumper (zip down) on top of it. It was February, so the frost hadn't gone just yet. Neither had the cold, so I needed to keep warm.

The door opened and a chubby, rather brown lady appeared at the door, a huge smile spreading across her face like some sort of contagious disease. She was wearing a brightly-coloured cardigan.

"Hello, Mr. Morris. I'm Gina Conway, I'm sure Mike's told you about me on the phone, yeah?" she inquired, her voice with a slight West Indies hint. _Maybe it runs in the family? _I wondered.

"No, never," replied Brett, shaking Gina's hand warmly.

"I'm the, er, second-in-command if you like, here at Elm Tree House. I take it this is Demon, yeah?"

"Yes, this is Demon. I must warn you beforehand, he really is a bit of a danger. He has the biggest anger issues, as you may know, and it's best just to-"

Brett kept on talking about my anger problems, but I wasn't listening. I was peering in front of him, and looking at the assembled crowd of children gathered just past Gina. There was about twelve children. _Great! _I thought. _More kids means less food and more sharing_. I surveyed the children, noticing a Hispanic girl with a bright smile on her face, a girl with brown hair covered in electric blue streaks, a boy and a girl wearing blue standing near each other. _Brother and sister?_ I wondered. Also, I noticed a young boy with a shock of blonde hair and a plush giraffe toy, and a girl with chestnut hair hiding at the back. _Nervous? Probably. Maybe she's new. Or has problems. Or maybe she doesn't like new kids._

"Demon?" The careworker – Gina, was it? - was addressing me. "The office is just straight on through, Demon, yeah, but before that-" I didn't care. She was probably warning me about a problem child, or telling me what day I had to clean the dishes, or something trivial and stupid like that. I didn't care. It could wait until later.

I barged past all the children, banging into some of them deliberately. I even sent the girl in blue to the ground. She winced in pain and clutched onto the one who I presumed was her brother, as I quickly walked into the office angrily, slamming the door behind me.

**Next chapter**

**OFFICE CONVERSATION**


	3. Office Conversation

**A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 3: Office Conversation**

I sat sulking in the office, my feet crossed on the desk and my hands behind my back. It was a simple yet effective trick; it just showed the careworkers my authority and how I was in charge, not them: I wasn't going to let them control me and what I do.

A good five minutes after my volatile outburst, Gina entered the room, accompanied by a man in his late forties, early fifties with thinning grey hair, and a young, pretty girl in her early twenties with flowing black hair. Both careworkers evidently. Gina sat down in her chair. I was in the chair belonging to the man with the thinning grey hair.

"Hi, Demon, this is Mike and Tracy, yeah?" said Gina. _Why do all of her sentences end in 'yeah'?_ I wondered.

"Look, Demon, we know you have issues," said Mike.

"Good evening to you too," I interrupted.

"Er, good evening," he mumbled, "look, we've read your file. We know that you've had a tough past, what with your Mum and your Dad. And it hasn't been easy for you. At all. We understand that you maybe react violently sometimes".

"That may explain why I've been through thirty-two other care homes in eight years," I said.

"Thirty-two?" Mike spluttered.

Tracy intervened. "The point is, we understand that you react violently and occasionally punch people and push them down stairs and be a general health hazard, but you can not attack our young people. You're not the only one with a traumatic past. Now, I think you should go outside and apologise to Tee". _She wants me to apologise to some tea? What in the name of-? "_The girl who you pushed past before".

"And I think you must be mental. Why would I apologise to a pathetic little girl who I've never met before? Is she dead? Cos' if she isn't, there's no need to apologise. When's dinner?" I ask, glaring repulsively at Tracy, piercing her with my eyes, my face twisted into a malevolent frown.

"Just in ten minutes. Gives you enough time to get to your room, start unpacking," explained Gina warily.

"Do I have to eat it with the other kids?" I asked.

"Why would you not want to eat with them?" asked Mike.

"Because half of them will be in hospital by the time we're onto pudding, if I'm not careful. They'll all be staring at me, and asking me why I'm so angry, and I'll end up hurting them".

"Sorry Demon, but you have to eat with the other kids. We let one of our young people eat in his room once, and new species of insect undiscovered to science were evolving underneath his bed after a week. It'll give you a chance to get to know the kids, you know," said Gina.

"Your room, Demon," said Mike, "up the stairs".

"And then up some more stairs," added Tracy.

"You'll come to a corridor, where there are photos of all the children here and their names. At the top of that corridor is a room just up three small steps. It says 'Demon' on the door. I'm sure you'll be able to find it," concluded Mike.

As I opened the door and walked out of the office, I noticed two of the kids outside the door.

"Wooh! This one's got some fire in him!" said the first, a boy with a London accent.

"Liam, leave him alone," said another boy standing next to him, who had some sort of speech impediment. _Cerebral palsy? _I wondered. I'd ran into two kids with cerebral palsy in previous care homes.

I ignored him, though my face twisted into a scowl as I remembered Gina's earlier remark. 'It'll give you a chance to get to know the kids'. _Why the heck would I want to know the other kids? Ah well, I suppose Mike, Gina and Tracy don't know that I'm running away tonight..._


	4. Dinnertime Dispute

**A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 4: Dinnertime Dispute**

I traipsed wearily up to my room, up all the stairs. I saw the sign saying 'Demon' as Mike had described. It was crudely made, but I didn't really care. I ripped the sign down, fully aware that some of the kids were nervously watching me – the Hispanic girl and one with slightly curly hair, a black polo shirt and beige trousers. Did I care if they were watching me?

Quickly, I opened the door and stepped inside the room. It was bland, boring. There was a bed, wardrobe and a desk, with a large window with an uninteresting vista. The room smelt clean. _A girl's probably been in here _I thought, as I surveyed the room, which was plastered in hideous blue paint, which was flaking off the walls in some places. I didn't care. Six hours from now, I would never have to see the room ever again.

I found my trunk and backpack on the bed already. I started unpacking, shoving my clothes into the wardrobe and emptying the contents of my backpack onto the desk, apart from the best thing I own: a photo of me with my Mum and Dad when we were a family, way back, before the marathon of care homes, back when everything was happy.

"DINNEEEEEEEEER!" _Oh my god. Is the whole place falling down? Oh, it's Gina calling us for dinner, _I thought as the house practically shook with a tremor caused by Gina's foghorn of a voice.

I ran downstairs to dinner, grabbing a chair before anybody else could. The other kids filed in as Tracy handed out drinks. I took some orange juice. I didn't care too much about what I drank. The last few kids arrived as Gina started handing out putrid brown curry to everybody present.

"Why did you do that?" asked the Hispanic girl.

"Do what?" I responded coldly.

"Knock over Tee," said Hispanic Girl.

"I don't know, look, it was an accident, okay? Now just leave it," I ordered. I worked out that if they thought I was a goody-goody person, none of the careworkers would expect me to run away.

"Okay, by the way, you've got a really cool name," Hispanic Girl said. I smiled at her compliment, asking "What's your name?"

"I'm Carmen. This is Tee and Johnny Taylor. They're brother and sister". _Bam! I got it right! I knew they were related._

"I'm Gus Carmichael. What's your surname?" said Beige-Trousers Boy.

"Traylen. Why do you need to know?" I asked inquisitively.

"I want to add you to the list in my notebook," he explained. I peered at his notebook. It says 'Notebook 11'.

"Notebook 11?" I asked.

"I've already completed ten notebooks," said Gus.

"Woah. Can I see the list, so I know everybody's name?" I asked.

"Why can't I tell you?" he asked.

"Okay, you can tell me". We'd reached a compromise. Gus started indicating kids.

"This is Elektra, she's dangerous".

"So am I. I've been in thirty-two care homes in eight years," I say.

"This is Harry and Jeff the Giraffe," he says, indicating the boy with the plush giraffe toy, "and this is Rick Barber," he explains, pointing to a boy in a red checked shirt, "Kitty," who turns out to be the shy girl with the chestnut hair, "Liam O'Donovan and Frank Matthews," those are the two boys from outside the office, "Tyler Lewis," who's about Tee's age with a small Afro, "and Lily Kettle".

I nearly double back in amazement. Lily. Oh my gosh, she's amazing! _Demon! Demon! DEMON! DEEEMOOOON! _My conscience tried to regain control, _How can I like a girl? This isn't like me! Demon Traylen despises girls! As a rule! But - I think I like her. NO, DEMON, ARE YOU MAD?_

"Hello, dreamy-eyes," said Liam. I realised everybody was staring at me, and I was staring at Lily. Awkward. I tried to forget about it. But suddenly...

"Ow!" cried Johnny.

"What happened?" asked Tracy from the doorway.

"Demon kicked me!"

_The little freak. I didn't do anything!_

"I didn't!" I scream. "You're just lying because I accidentally hurt Tee before. I hate you Johnny Taylor, you stupid lying idiot!" I threw my orange juice at him. I couldn't help smirking as he sat dripping in juice, though I stormed out of the room quickly.

_That didn't go too well. Crap._


	5. Escaping

**A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 5: Escaping**

It was 6:30pm. I was going to escape at maybe 10:30, when everybody was in bed. I had to escape. I just had to. I didn't belong at Elm Tree, I didn't belong in care. I needed to find my Mum, and get out of care for good.

Luckily, the wardrobe was a very light one with wheels on the bottom, so I rolled it in front of the door to form a barricade. Nobody could get in. Obviously I would unblock the barricade when I was leaving. I smiled at my ingenious plan. Malcolm had warned Gina that if I went off in a strop, it was best to leave me alone. God thank Malcolm.

I gathered up my stuff into my rucksack, and put that into my trunk. I didn't have any money, so I decided I would walk away from the Dumping Ground, forever. I started waiting.

_10:30pm_

_Right. This is goodbye, Elm Tree _I thought as I picked up my trunk. Slowly and cautiously, I removed my makeshift barricade, so nobody could hear it scraping along the floor. Excitement was brimming up inside me as I carefully opened the door and stepped out onto the landing. I'd never been so gentle in my life. I crept down the stairs, praying that nobody would hear me. I walked into the kitchen to grab some food.

_ $#*! _I thought as I saw Mike in the kitchen. My heart pounded and I ducked behind the table and slowly crawled along the floor until I reached the door, grabbing three apples at the same time. Mike went out of the room and I dashed to the door, turned the handle carefully, and ran outside.

I could feel the cold breeze on the back of my neck. I turned my torch on. Keeping to the shadows so that nobody could see me, I tip-toed out to the garden. I saw the makeshift 'ELM TREE HOUSE' sign that I'd noticed upon arriving. I tried to open the heavy iron gates but they were locked.

I started climbing up the gates. I reached the top and the gates shaked. I jumped down onto the pavement. And began walking away.

Soon, I had to cross a road. And I stopped, looked and listened. I got halfway across the road when...

BOOM! I got hit by a speeding car.

Next chapter

HITCH-HIKING


	6. Hitchhiking

**A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 6: Hitch-hiking**

The car halted abruptly and I cried out in pain, my body sprawled out on the road. _Aargh! _I screamed inside. My head was throbbing, and my legs hurt like hell. A middle-aged couple jumped out of the car and approached me nervously. The woman had long brown hair and a kind face, and the man had long-ish black hair and a thin face.

"Oww," I whimpered, my head now burning.

"Oh my god," said the woman, "I'm so, so sorry. We didn't mean to hit you! Did you come from the care home? You don't seem to have any relatives with you, a mum or dad. Are you okay?"

"No. Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Glenys Chadwater, and this is my husband Dexter. Luckily for you, we're both doctors, so if you're injured, we might be able to do something about it. Are you from the care home?"

"No, I'm not," I lied quickly. The whole point of my mission was to escape the care home. I'd be sent straight back to it if I told Glenys and Dexter that I lived there.

"Is there anything we can do for you, after we've hopefully stopped the pain?" asked Dexter apologetically.

"Well, after you've stopped my head and legs burning, there is _something_," I said.

"Which is?"

"I need a lift. Just to the nearest bus station, if you could do that". There was no point in saying 'please'. I never said it anyway, and the pain was slowly killing me.

"Certainly. What's your name, son?" asked the man.

"Demon," I answered.

I got in the back seat of the car after the Chadwaters bandaged my head and gave me an icepack. and, whilst being bombarded with pain and questions, we drove to the nearest bus station, where I waited, bidding goodbye to the Chadwaters. I hadn't got any money; I wasn't intending to catch a bus anyway. I just needed some shelter. My mission to escape Elm Tree had failed.

**Next chapter**

**PANIC AT ELM TREE HOUSE**


	7. Panic at Elm Tree House

**A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 7: Panic at Elm Tree House**

_7:45am, the next day_

"Mike," asked Gus inquisitively, "where's Demon?"

Mike frowned. He'd just realised that he had no idea where Demon was. "I don't know Gus. He's probably just asleep still".

"Tracy was singing," pointed out Tyler.

"What's your point?" asked Elektra.

"Nobody could stay asleep through Tracy's singing. It's enough to make a foghorn beg for quiet," said Tyler.

"That's actually a very valid point Tyler," exclaimed Mike.

"Oh, thanks!" said Tracy sarcastically.

"I'll just go and see if he's still asleep. If he is, I'll wake him up," said Mike. He went upstairs and rapped on Demon's door. There was no response, so he tentatively crept into Demon's room, pushing the door open lightly.

"Demon?" he asked. "Demon?" There was nobody in Demon's bed. Mike realised suddenly that Demon had escaped. He gasped, and ran downstairs.

"Did you find Demon?" asked Johnny.

"Why do you care?" asked Rick.

"Because I want to smash his face in," explained Johnny helpfully.

"Kids, I have to tell you that... Demon's ran away," said Mike gravely.

The kids let out a collective gasp, and there was the familiar sound of letters going through the letterbox. Frank, who had already finished his gloopy porridge, went to get the post. He found an electricity bill addressed to Mr M. Milligan, a copy of the local newspaper, and a letter addressed to 'Mike, Gina and Tracy'. It had no stamp on it and the envelope was in a bad condition. Frank was intrigued. He wandered into the kitchen, putting the post on the table. Mike's attention went straight to the letter which had captivated Frank already. He seized it, opened it and began to read it.

_Dear Mike, Gina and Tracy,_

_ Hello, it's Demon Traylen. You might have noticed that I've ran away. Well, I ran away last night, but when I was crossing a road, a speeding car hit me. And my head and legs were burning like hell. In fact, they still are. I think I'm probably dying. Fortunately, the two people in the car that hit me, Mr and Mrs Chadwater, were both doctors, so they have stopped the pain a bit. I've decided that running away might not be the cleverest idea in the world, so if anybody wants to collect me, I am at Bus Stop 7, which I think is about ten minutes away from Elm Tree House. Please get me soon. I have had no food since I left, apart from three apples. One of which was mouldy. Where the hell do you buy your apples from?_

_ From Demon_

Next chapter

JOHNNY'S SECRET


	8. Johnny's Secret

**A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 8: Johnny's Secret**

"Sorry," apologised Demon. Mike, Gina and Tracy were half-relieved, half-angry. Mike had got me from the bus stop and he hadn't spoken all the way back to Elm Tree, where all the kids stared at me with boggle eyes, like I was an exhibit in a zoo.

"We're so happy you're okay, Demon. Really, we are. Thank god you survived. But we're also extremely angry. You tried to run away, and then you hitch-hiked. That's not good, Demon," said Mike.

"Look, I'm really sorry. But on the plus side, I'm still alive".

"We're really glad for that. And we gather that the Chadwaters are nice people. Thank god they were doctors," said Mike. _Is he patronising me? Yeah _I thought.

"Demon, you can't do this. We gather that you don't feel totally at home here, but give it a chance, please. The people here are lovely when you get to know them. Running away isn't the answer at all. And then, you hitch-hiked a lift," said Tracy.

"I trust the Chadwaters".

"Yes, but they could have been bad people. I know somebody will have told you not to take lifts from strangers. You could have been seriously in danger. I know you weren't, but you could have been. So, you're on punishment duty. I want you to clean everybody's bedroom, starting with Johnny's, because he's the one who got covered in orange juice".

I agreed and walked out of the room. All of the kids started asking questions but I ignored them, and headed straight for Johnny's room.

_ I HATE cleaning, _I thought as I dutifully dusted Johnny's cupboards. When I'd finished that, I set to work on his grubby little bedside drawers. All that was there were a few little plastic toys. I pushed my way through handfuls of junk, and then something caught my eye. A scrunched up piece of glossy photo paper. I can never resist scrunched-up pieces of paper. I grabbed it, and started to unravel it. And the most hilarious sight of my life met my eyes.

It was a photo of Johnny dressed up as a woman, completed with make-up and wig. It was hilarious! On the back, Johnny had scribbled 'I dressed up as a girl for a school project'. Demon had a 'eureka' moment. If Johnny didn't do what he wanted, Demon would make him do it, by threatening to show everybody the photo. It was ingenious. Suddenly, Johnny burst into the room.

"What are you doing?" he asked violently.

"Cleaning your room," I replied.

"Why?"

"I'm on punishment duty. But now I'm going".

"But you haven't finished cleaning my room!" he whines.

"Do you want me to show the kids _this_?" I ask, taking the offending picture out of my pocket.

"Give that _back_!" he cries.

"I don't think so," I said, walking out of the room with a slight hint of a smile on my face.

**Next chapter**

**I HATE YOU, LILY KETTLE!**


	9. I Hate You, Lily Kettle!

**A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 9: I Hate You, Lily Kettle!**

Johnny avoided me for the next few days, afraid that if he did anything I didn't like, I would show everybody the photo. I was contemplating just showing the photo to everybody anyway, but I decided against it. Johnny would be humiliated some time; it could wait a while.

The day after I returned to 'the Dumping Ground' as all the kids seem to call it, I finally started answering a few of the other kids' questions. They were simple ones anyway, so I was fine with answering a few. Gus asked me every question he could possibly think of. I think he's made a list of all his questions and my answers in his notebook.

That day at noon, it was time for lunch. It was Saturday and we were allowed to just get up from the table and go once we had finished lunch. I thought about everything that had happened in 48 hours. Loads. I ate everything really quickly and left. So did Johnny and Kitty. She was an amazingly fast eater, because she never spoke. She just sat down, ate, and went.

After fifteen minutes, there came an agitated cry of "Oh my God!" coming from Lily's room. I rushed to the room as quickly as I could, to find the entire room in the world's biggest mess. Everything was strewn over the floor and the bed was completely destroyed. I couldn't actually see the floor.

"Demon, why would you do this?" asked Lily. _What the -? Me? But I didn't do it!_

"I didn't do it!" I protested. Johnny arrived on the scene smirking.

"Really? You were the first person up from dinner and you were first here – perhaps admiring your handiwork".

"You got up from dinner two minutes after me; for all I know it could easily have been you".

"Demon, why would it be Johnny? It was you, wasn't it, you -" Then she called me a really rude word beginning with 'b' that was quite offensive.

Tracy rushed in. "Lily, did you just use a swear word?"

"No," Lily replied grumpily. "Don't you _ever _do this again!"

"I hate you, Lily Kettle!" I screamed, and I ran away, slamming a door for the third time at least in two days. I realised my mistake instantly, and I felt like screaming. I'd ruined everything.

I fished inside my pockets for the embarrassing photograph of Johnny to show to the kids, but it wasn't there. And I knew who'd done this. _Johnny._


	10. An Unlikely Reunion

**A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 10: An Unlikely Reunion**

Hell yeah, I was upset. But I didn't cry. Demon Traylen never cries. Especially not over girls. I decided that spying on Johnny Taylor was the best idea. Then I could see if he tried to destroy anybody else's room and blame it on me.

It was obviously him. I'm amazed that the other kids didn't know. He must have done it. And beforehand, he stole the photo from my jacket pocket. Idiot. Oh my god I hate him. Hate him, hate him, HATE HIM!

So, the day after the idiotic orang-utan framed me, I started spying on him. I've got to say, without sounding cocky, that I make an excellent spy. I tended to start by keeping a good distance away: sometimes when he was at the bottom of the stairs, I would be at the top, observing absolutely everything. But then, the next day, I started getting closer in my missions. I was surprised that Johnny did not do anything bad for a few days; maybe he knew I was spying on him.

_Why isn't he doing something else, framing me AGAIN? _I pondered in my bedroom after two days of intense spying, _If I was him, I'd do lots of bad things, frame him again and again and again, but he doesn't. I wonder why...? Maybe he's lost the photo? If so, that would be 2-1 to me. I like that idea_. I jumped as the door opened and Elektra stepped in.

"Ever heard of knocking, or...?" I asked as Blue Girl walked in. I hate her.

"Yeah, I have heard of knocking. I just don't care about it," she replied.

"What are you doing in here?" I asked.

"I think Demon's being a _naughty boy_," she teased. I panicked slightly.

"What do you mean?" I inquired, trying to hide the tension in my voice.

"Well, I saw Johnny going into the kitchen. And you know who I saw right behind him... it was Demon Traylen". She gasped dramatically.

"But that's not the only thing," she continued, "I think that Demon may have a itsy-bitsy slighty-wighty crushy-wushy on a certain eleven-year-old with a name that rhymes with... let's see... Silly".

That was enough. I lunged at her. She ran out of the room and I pursued her, running rapidly. It reminded me of about a hundred other fights in different care homes. We were both screaming. The other kids, befuddled, stormed out onto the landing.

"I'm gonna kill you!" I screamed violently.

"Demon loves Lily, Demon loves Lily!" she sang as she ran downstairs. _Oh my god, _I thought. She ran through the door and I ran after her, screaming threats and curses as she sang "Demon loves Lily, Demon loves Lily!" at the top of her voice.

She ran even faster when she was outside, screeching her stupid song as she reached the thick bushes, looking for a hiding spot. I ran after her.

"You idiot! Idiot!" I yelled. I noticed a shape run back to the house – Elektra. I sprinted after her, and as she ran up the stairs, I bumped into somebody. He had brown skin, a small black Afro erupting out of his head, and piercing eyes.

"Seth?" I asked. _Could this actually be Seth? The only careworker I've ever liked in my whole history of care homes? He was at Dragonfire Care Home when I was there, but then I left to be fostered._

"Woah, Demon?" he asked, befuddled.

"I never thought I'd see you again," I panted.

"Why are you out of breath?" he asked.

"I'm trying to attack somebody," I replied.

"You haven't changed, have you buddy?" he teased.

"I've been here since Wednesday, and I've already escaped, been hit by a speeding car, hitch-hiked, thrown orange juice all over somebody, and tried to attack quite a few people".

"All _that _in four days?" he asked, disbelieving.

"Yeah," I smiled, "why are you here?"

"I'm helping a new kid who's arriving on Tuesday. He's from Dragonfire actually. I know you weren't exactly best of friends, but I'm hoping you'll make up. I'm sure you'll remember him – Mal Pearson".

_Mal? _I thought, _my worst enemy of all time_. But it didn't stop there. _He knows all my secrets that he learned at Dragonfire. He could tell them anything personal about me, and there would be no way I could stop it. _


	11. Oh my Mal

**A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 11: Oh my Mal**

"Why were you screaming?" asked Gus inquisitively as I sat down to shepherd's pie that evening.

"Why were you... not?" I asked, wishing he hadn't asked that question.

"And why was Elektra singing songs?" he asked. _Oh Jesus_, I thought. I'd been bracing myself for this.

"You know what... I have no idea," I responded, glaring at the insolent Blue Girl as I started eating.

"Demon, we'd er, we'd like a word in the office, please?" said Mike as he entered the kitchen.

"What, now? Can't it wait, like, ten minutes?" I responded coldly.

"Just come on," he said, sighing. I put down my fork and followed him into the office. He and Tracy were there.

"What's so urgent, then?" I asked.

"Today, there was a lot of screaming. And we understand that Elektra was provoking you. However, this is terrible. Your record over the past few days has been atrocious. And to top all that, destroying Lily's bedroom".

"Oh my god! So you think I destroyed her bedroom too? I can't believe you! Call yourself a careworker? You turn against a kid when something bad happens, just because they're new? You idiot," I say, walking out of the room confidently. I stormed up to my bedroom, and slammed the door.

_Tuesday: the day that Mal was due to arrive_

I woke up early, thinking about what was going to happen. Mal. At Dragonfire, he was the only one who stood up to me. He was horrible. Sometimes he said mean things. Generally, I won the fights, but sometimes he posed a sort of a threat. I hated his guts, and despite what Seth said, I wasn't going to befriend him. Not in this lifetime.

I walked down to breakfast at ten to eight, finding only two people sitting there: Kitty and, oh god, Lily, who quickly walked up from the breakfast table and pushed past me on her way upstairs.

I sat down in my usual chair. Kitty said nothing, and I poured some Frosties, eating them quickly.

"So, I gather that you know Mal?" asked Tracy, who had suddenly appeared at the doorway.

"Yeah. Worst enemies," I answered.

"Ah," said Tracy.

When I had finished, I went upstairs. Ready for Mal.

_10:00am_

A black car drove up to the house, and Mal got out, accompanied by Seth. Mal got out. He obviously was older, and looked it, but he still had the same ugly face that I wanted to hurt. He made a mock smile at me as he walked through to the office with Seth. This day was gonna be hell.

_2:00pm_

I traipsed up the stairs to find Mal at the top. I hadn't seen him since his arrival.

"So, Mal," I said, "why are you here?"

"To annoy you," he responded.

"Oh, great," I said.

"Thought you'd say something stupid".

"Take that back-"

I barely finished the sentence, when Mal pushed me forcefully on the chest. _No! _I panicked. _My legs and head... they're already weak from the car... if I fall back, I'll probably die. _This train of thought took only a second, and I screamed in sheer terror as I careered backwards, falling down the stairs. I banging off a wall, arriving in a heap at the bottom. I saw Mal smirking, and then... everything went black.


	12. Paralysed

**A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 12: Paralysed**

I woke up with a throbbing head. My legs felt strange and they hurt like you would not believe. I didn't know if I could move them; I didn't try. My back killed. I didn't try to sit up either. I was in so much pain it was unbelievable. I felt like killing Mal – if I could move, that was.

I opened my eyes weakly to see Mike kneeling beside me. Behind him, I could see Tracy, Seth and all the kids – except Mal – muttering anxiously to each other. Mal had probably hidden so he didn't get told off. Jerk. Still, at least everybody was looking concerned.

"Hi Demon," said Mike softly. "How are you feeling?"

"Considering I've been pushed down the stairs, not too good," I replied. "My back hurts like hell, my head's throbbing, and I don't know if I can move my legs".

"About that, you can't. Don't try to move your legs," he ordered.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Half an hour. A doctor came at short notice. You've got a big cut on your forehead, and there was quite a lot of bleeding, but the doctor says that'll be fine. However, because your legs were already hurt from the car on Wednesday... um... you're temporarily paralysed from the waist down".

"P-paralysed?" I stuttered, incoherently.

"Paralysed," Mike reiterated. "You're going to have to get a lot of rest and stay here. You shouldn't need to move your legs at all. The doctor says it'll only be for a week or so, then you'll be back to normal".

"Wait – Demon, you said you were _pushed _down the stairs – who did it?" asked a concerned Tracy.

"I'm not a snitch," I replied.

"Jeff says he saw Mal at the top of the stairs, pushing Demon down the stairs," said Harry cheerfully, appearing with Jeff. I silently thanked him. Justice was served, and I didn't snitch.

"Mal?" asked Tracy, disbelieving.

"Told you we were worst enemies. Now, how the heck do we get me upstairs?," I enquired.

"Er, I have to carry you," admitted Mike, picking me up and slinging me over his shoulder. He carried me up the stairs and into my room, softly plonking me down on the bed. He left me alone, and I thought about everything that had happened in six days: I'd been hit by a car, escaped from Elm Tree House, met an old careworker and an old enemy, and been paralysed from the waist down. Interesting. Then, Elektra came in.

"Oh no," I groaned.

"Gina says I have to say sorry for provoking you, and be friends with you or something," she announced.

"So? Apologise," I demanded.

"Why should I?" she asked insolently.

"Well, because I can't move my legs for a week, by the end of that week, I'll want to be running about. What better way to get used to being able to move your legs again, then attacking a certain girl with blue hair?"

"Oh Jesus," she sighed, stomping out of the room.

"Not finished yet," I said, raising a finger.

"Oh Jesus," she repeated, walking back into the room.

"If you don't apologise, not sure about the being friends thing, I might tell everybody about when I read your diary on Monday, and saw a whole paragraph about somebody who's name rhymes with Biam".

"You have no proof I love Liam," she uttered, panicking.

"_'Dear Diary,_

_ Today we all went for a day out in the country. Carmen fell off a bridge. I suppose that was totally my fault. Harry faced an adder... until I, hero of the day, came to solve the problem. Liam was there. Why I am I thinking about Liam? Oh yeah – cos' he's the cutest boy in the whole care home. I can't believe how much I want to kiss him_," I said, quoting from the diary and mimicking Elektra's voice.

"You idiot! Don't you dare tell _anybody _about that!" she screeched.

"Elektra loves Liam, Elektra loves Liam," I sang.

Suddenly, Liam came in. _Wouldn't miss this for the world, _I thought.

"What's er, what's going on?" he asked nervously.

"Elektra's saying how much she _loves _you," I explained, as Elektra grew redder and redder with fury and embarassment.

"Like I'm gonna believe you," he said. Idiot.

"If you don't believe me, look at how red Elektra is getting".

He looked.

"Ah," he said, running out of the room.

"You little twerp!" screamed Elektra.

"Ah-ah. If you attack me, I'll tell _everybody _about you and Liam. They'll be talking about you for days – Lelektra. Maybe not. Eliam? Liamektra? Elekiam? Liektra? Lee-ektra? Yeah. Liektra," I mused.

"Fine," she said, storming out of the room, enveloped in a cloud of pure frustration. I smirked.

"Bye, Mrs. O'Donovan," I shouted.

I lay in bed for a while, reading a book I found underneath the bed. It was obviously left over from the girl who'd been in my room before me, because the title was _My First Book_ _of Fairies_. I was busy reading all about the Flower Fairy, when there came a quiet knock at the door.

"Come in," I said.

Of all people, it was Kitty who came in.

"Hi Kitty," I said softly.

"Hello," she said timidly. This was the first time I'd ever heard her speak.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think so," I replied. "Kitty?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you so shy? I just want to know".

"I'm not shy. I'm scared. Bye-bye Demon".

"Bye," I said as she left the room, thinking about this remark.

_One week later_

As I lay resting, Kitty came into the room for the first time in a week.

"Demon?"

"Yes?" I asked.

"Johnny's been telling people that you love Lily". She ran out of the room.

Right. This was it. I was going to kill Johnny. And I knew exactly how.

**Next Chapter**

**KILLING JOHNNY TAYLOR**


	13. Killing Johnny Taylor

**A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE**

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 13: Killing Johnny Taylor**

I leapt out of my bed quickly, and got dressed as fast as I could, into some black and brown trousers, a navy polo shirt and black jumper. I walked to the door. It was amazing that I was walking again, but I didn't have time to rejoice. Nevertheless, I did spare a few seconds thinking about what it was like to feel anything in my legs again.

I flung open my bedroom door and charged downstairs. Johnny would be hiding somewhere, like a coward – underneath the pool table, or in the toy cupboard. I knocked past Gus on my way down, sending his notebook flying. He scuttled off to retrieve it as I passed Carmen.

"What are you-" she started, but I pushed past her, walking past the rickety piano, and turning into the crowded living room. I spotted a few kids there, lounging on the sofas and playing pool – Rick, Tee, Harry, Frank and Sapphire. As I understood, she, like Liam, didn't live in the Dumping Ground anymore, but they liked to visit. A lot. Sapphire lived on her own, and Liam lived with his brother Jack. I didn't notice Johnny. But then... I heard some heavy breathing. I knew where he was.

I walked through the doors and pulled them shut behind me. Hiding behind where the door was, was Johnny Taylor. I ran towards him, grabbing his shirt.

"You idiot!" I yelled, raking him with my fingers.

"What have I done?" he shouted, pulling my hair until my head burned.

"You know what you've done!" I screamed. Then... I went in for the kill, punching him in the face with all my might. Blood trickled down his face and he tried to punch me, but I ducked and twisted out of the way as he fell onto the floor. I tried to kick him but he rolled out of the way and stood up, punching me in the face. I slammed my fist into his face until they almost became conjoined.

"I hate you!" I screeched, punching him again. Mike and Tracy ran in. Mike grabbed me round my waist, wrenching me off Johnny and pulling me back as I frantically tried to punch him. I kicked as hard as I could, my hair flying wild, but Mike wouldn't let go. Then, I had a genius idea. I butted my head back into his stomach and he let go of me, wincing in pain. I took this opportunity to escape, picking up a chair from the corner of the room. I knew what to do next.

I threw the chair with all my might, and it flew into Johnny's face, knocking him unconscious, right into the sofa. The other kids were speechless and white with shock, as Tracy grabbed me, pulling me out of the room.

* * *

><p>"Demon, this has happened too many times," said Mike sternly, after he had cleaned up the blood. He was pointing his finger at me in the manner of a strict school headmaster.<p>

"Rude to point," I murmured.

"You have been here for less than two weeks, and in that time you have run away, threw orange juice over somebody and messed up somebody's bedroom-"

"I didn't do that," I protested.

"Now, you have knocked a child into unconscious using, of all things, a chair".

"I've also been hit by a speeding car, pushed down some stairs and been paralysed from the waist down," I pointed out.

"Your behaviour is not what we expected when we agreed that you could come to Elm Tree House, Demon. We don't accept this kind of behaviour from any of the other children, why should you be allowed to do this? We appreciate that on some of these occasions, your apparent rival Johnny has provoked you, but this is still unacceptable behaviour. And for that reason, we are finding a child anger issues psychiatrist".

"A what?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"A psychiatrist who can help you overcome your anger issues," Tracy explained.

"I don't need another psychiatrist," I protested.

"According to your file, you have already had over fifty psychiatrists. Fifty? That's ridiculous, Demon," said Mike.

"So why do you think that I'm going to cope with a fifty-first?"

"Demon, we want you to do this," said Gina.

"Fine," I agreed, stamping my foot for emphasis.

"However, you don't have to apologise to Johnny, because, as I see, he hurt you as much as you hurt him. It was a misunderstanding," said Mike.

_Result_, I thought.

* * *

><p>"Let all your anger fill the balloon," said Jenica, the anger issue psychiatrist. It was the Saturday after I attacked Johnny (Wednesday) and I was in a group class; there were about fifteen children in there with me. It was ten minutes into the class, and I was hating every minute of it, wishing I could get out. I hated Mike for doing this. The only plus was that, before the class, I met two kids who became my best friends: Leela and Fletch. They're both pretty nice people.<p>

Anyway, I really did let all my anger fill the balloon, and so it popped. A helper went off to get another one. It popped within a minute.

When they'd run out of balloons, most of them mine, we played some games which were designed to help us be a lot calmer in our attitude and our approach to people. They were terrible. Slightly fun, but there's no way they'd ever help make me calmer. After that, we all had to go into a little room and talk to Jenica about our anger issues. I told her about some of them, and she came up with some pretty wacky theories of why I was always angry.

By the end of the lesson, I promised to Leela and Fletch that I'd be back next week, and Tracy picked me up in her car.

"So, how'd it go?" she asked cheerily.

"I don't know. I didn't attack anybody, and I made some friends, but I don't think it's helped at all," I confessed.

"Well, on the plus side, Johnny's confessed to destroying Lily's room, so you're off the hook".

"Yes!" I said audibly.

Tracy stared.

"I mean, oh no, how sad".

"So... friends?" she enquired.

"Thalia and Fletch. Thalia's younger than me, Fletch is a bit older. They're not in care, but they have huge anger issues too," I divulged.

"Well, it's good you're making friends," she said, "oh, and also, we're all going to the seaside the weekend after next".

"Okay..." I said.

"And, also... erm".

"What?" I demanded.

"We've had a letter from your social worker Brett, who says that he's found a child called Siren who is your sister".

I gasped in shock.

"And, we've decided that she can come and stay at the Dumping Ground, since her foster family don't want her anymore. She's coming tomorrow".

"I don't have a sister".

"Exactly what we thought, but she even did a fingerprint DNA test – she is your biological sister".

_Woah, _ I thought. _This changes everything._

**Next chapter**

**THE SISTER I NEVER KNEW I HAD**


	14. The Sister I Never Knew I Had

**Thank you for all 20 reviews! Please, if you have read the story, review it, and try to use constructive criticism. Also, I am going through Writer's Block, so if you want anything to happen in the series, please tell me, and I'll see if I can get your suggestions into future chapters.**

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><p><strong>A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE<strong>

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 14: The Sister I Never Knew I Had**

"Carmen, Lily, Kitty, Demon, Johnny, bed. Now," demanded Tracy that night at half nine. All the kids had gathered in the lounge at about seven, and Mike had made some sweet and salted popcorn for us all. We were sat around watching movies and playing pool. It was quite nice. Some of the kids had asked me about Siren, and I told them the most that I knew. I was pleased to see Lily – though she hadn't said 'sorry' for believing I destroyed her bedroom, she wasn't avoiding me any more. Harry had gone to bed at half eight, with Tee, Gus and Tyler following at nine o'clock.

"Good night," said Carmen, yawning.

"Night, guys," said Lily.

"You've got half an hour, you lot," said Tracy, indicating Frank, Rick and Elektra. "I'm just going to see if Gus and Tyler are asleep".

Kitty ran upstairs. We followed her up the stairs, constantly pleading with Tracy that we should stay up later. She didn't agree. We cleaned our teeth and went to bed.

"Good night, Demon," said a quite voice. I turned round: it was Kitty.

"Good night, Kitty," I replied. Then, something unexpected happened. Really unexpected. Kitty ran up and hugged me. I hugged her back – I didn't exactly know what was happening. The hug lasted a few seconds, and then she ran off to her bedroom. I thought that it was quite odd, but quite nice that somebody actually liked me. Besides, Kitty was a nice girl. It was just unexpected.

Anyway, I got into bed, turned off the lights and attempted to go to sleep. But I couldn't – no matter what I did. I was having dreams and thoughts about Siren, my apparent sister. What if I hate her? What if she hates me? What if-? Thoughts buzzed around my head. Tomorrow was going to be an eventful day.

* * *

><p>I woke up, excited. Siren was coming. Tracy and Mike had told me that she was 13 years old and was a bit like me, personality-wise, but a bit less prone to hurting people violently. I'd woken up at 7am; Siren was arriving at 9am.<p>

Putting on my dressing gown, I trudged downstairs wearily, turning into the lounge. Harry, Jeff and Tee were in there. Harry and Jeff were underneath the pool table for some bizarre reason which I presumed would be explained later. Tee was playing on the computer. I didn't dare find out _what _she was playing.

I jerked when I heard a sudden "Jeff wants to know if you're excited". I immediately, reflexively, looked underneath the pool table. It was definitely Harry who'd said it.

"Yeah, I'm quite excited Jeff," I replied. "I didn't know I had a sister until yesterday, so yeah, I'm excited".

Harry and Jeff resumed whispering to each other as I plonked myself down on the sofa. I kept thinking about Siren: I suddenly realised that I was _so nervous_. Not scared, but anxious. I had no idea what Siren was like. Suppose she wasn't really my sister? No, that'd be impossible. I just... what if Siren started attacking me? She was older than me, so-

"Hello Dangerous Care Kid," said Elektra nonchalantly, strolling into the room and walking to the snooker table, accompanied by Frank, who walked in a few moments later.

"Are you excited?" he asked.

"Yeah. Loads," I replied, as Frank joined Elektra at the snooker table. Elektra took a shot – and the white ball rebounded off two other balls, knocking them into the holes. Frank was amazed. He took a shot – and the white ball hit no balls.

"This might be a bit hard," he realised.

"How about you just give me the five pounds now?" asked Elektra. It was obviously a bet – if Elektra won, Frank gave her £5, if Frank won she gave him the £5. Ingenious idea.

* * *

><p>9:00am. I'd not been hungry at breakfast, so I hadn't eaten much due to the butterflies in my stomach. I was waiting upstairs in my bedroom nervously, looking for some sign of the car containing my sibling who I didn't know existed until the day before. I kept looking out of the window for any sign of Siren.<p>

9:02am, 9:03am. The minutes ticked away slowly. Every second seemed to last an hour. 9:08am, 9:09am. Needless to say, Gus was waiting to write down the exact time Siren arrived. 9:13am, 9:14am. Then – yes! A black BMW M3 drove up speedily to the front of the house. I drew my curtains. I didn't want to see her, yet.

I heard a hubbub of noise coming from downstairs. Siren was in Elm Tree House. I heard Carmen shout, "Hiya Siren! I'm Carmen!" enthusiastically. Then, "he's upstairs, do you want me to get him?", again coming from Carmen's mouth. Siren had asked where I was. Then, the noise died down. Siren had obviously gone into the office or the quiet room. I heard feet pounding on the stairs, then my bedroom door was thrust open and Carmen burst in, panting.

"Demon, your sister's here," she panted.

"I know," I responded.

"Do you want to come down and see her yet?" she asked.

I'd made up my mind. "Yes". A delighted smile crept over Carmen's face as she took my hand and ran downstairs, pulling me along like a rag doll. The kids were still at the bottom of the stairs, but had parted to two sides. Mike was there.

"Demon – do you want to see your sister for the first time?" asked Mike softly, almost patronising me.

I smiled. "Yeah".

He led me through to the Quiet Room. I pushed open the door and went in. An attractive, blond-haired girl was sitting on one of the red velvet sofas, next to the roaring fire. It was January, after all. She had a rounded face and her hair went down to her lower torso. She was very pretty, and also very slim. She seemed nice, and gave a nervous smile as I went in.

"Hi, I'm apparently your brother," I said. I wasn't actually sure what to say.

"And I'm apparently your sister," she replied, her blue eyes shining like the gleaming sun.

"Do you, er, do you like being in care?" I asked.

"A bit. I've been in fifteen care homes".

"Only fifteen?"

"Only?"  
>"I've been in thirty-two care homes".<p>

"Ah".

"I hope you like it here. It's better than some of the places I've been. Ever been to Burnywood?"

"Yeah".

"Better than that".

"So, the people here nice?"

"Some of them. Stay clear of Elektra, the girl with blue hair. I'm convinced she's evil. And also, don't listen to what Johnny says – he's the one normally wearing blue, got braces, brown hair, slightly spiky". As I painted the vivid picture of my worst enemy, Siren listened intently.

"Come on," I said, and we walked out of the quiet room. Ready for a new beginning.


	15. Rejected

**Thank you SO MUCH to everybody who has reviewed the story - Cookie05, Abrey98, strawberrymagic01, amber'xx, and Theblackparade123. Your support means so much to me. I have just been planning out future chapters for the story, and I have decided that there are going to be 17 chapters in Part 1 of the story. At the end of Part 1, there will be a cliffhanger, and I'll not post any more chapters for 2 weeks. After those 2 weeks, Part 2 will begin. It will have 11 chapters. Part 2 will again end in a cliffhanger, and after 2 weeks, Part 3 will begin. Hopefully. I'm bad at sticking to plans. Soz for the HUGE note.**

* * *

><p><strong>A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE<strong>

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 15: Rejected**

Over the next few days, Siren and I had been sticking together most of the time, and I'd got to know her a lot better. Her full name was Siren Abigail Traylen and she was born on March 19th 1998, making her 14 in a month or two. She had an average sort of personality – not intent on hurting people, like me, but not a complete goody-goody like Harry, Carmen or Tee. She was a very nice girl, and told me all about her complete life in care homes whenever she got the chance. It turned out that she knew Mal, and she agreed that he was horrible. In exchange, I told her about my escapades at Elm Tree House and how I'd been hit by a speeding car and pushed down some stairs. She had a huge appetite, and smelt of strawberries. I decided to stop glaring at Johnny 24-7, opting instead to remain with Siren for a few days, not caring about the other kids.

On that Thursday, at quarter to nine in the morning, I had an idea. Elektra was in the girls bathroom, brushing her hair vigorously and putting make-up on. Trying to impress Liam, no doubt, who had arranged to visit for the day. I'd seen her go in, observing from behind the nearest wall. The light switch for the door was located on the wall, and could only be switched on and off from the outside. Elektra was taking ages – she could even be washing her hair. I switched off the light to shrieks and curses from Elektra, and I ran off as she opened the door, her hair dripping water and her face half-covered in make-up. She looked like a clown.

"I'm going to kill you!" she yelled. I ran, sprinting up the stairs leading to the attic, hiding behind a crate of unwanted toys stuffed in the corner. I heard her feet pounding on the stairs, and I saw her come into the attic. I opened the crate from behind, pulling out some cuddly toy animals and some plastic tractors. I jumped out from my hiding place, hurling the toys at Elektra as she screamed in pain. I ran downstairs, praying she'd follow me. She did. I ran down the stairs and through to the kitchen, where nearly everybody – and by that I meant Tracy, Frank, Siren, Rick, Johnny, Harry and Lily - was still eating breakfast.

Everybody cracked up laughing, doubling over as their sides split with laughter. Elektra was puzzled for a moment, then she remembered that she had wet hair and barely any make-up on. She glared at me and then lunged, but Mike and Gina stopped her. Hearing the commotion, Kitty, Tyler, Carmen, Tee and Gus filed into the kitchen, gawping at Elektra and laughing. So did I.

* * *

><p>"Got your bucket and spade, Harry? Yes? Put them in there, then," said Mike as Harry shoved his toys into the back of the Elm Tree minivan. It was Saturday, and we were ready to go to the beach. Everybody filed into the minibus. Carmen, Lily, Tee and Kitty were seated on the back four seats, with Johnny, Tyler, Harry, me and Gus in front of them. In front of us were Sapphire, Frank, Liam, Rick and Siren. Liam and Sapphire had decided to tag along for the trip. In front of the five older kids were Sapphire, Elektra, Tracy and Gina, with Mike driving. Mike fired up the van and we sped off to the seaside.<p>

"How long will it be?" asked Gus immediately.

"We don't know, yeah," Gina explained.

"Jeff says he's hungry," said Harry.

"We've only just set off. We'll be at the beach in twenty minutes, yeah" Gina explained.

"Can we all attack old ladies?" asked Tyler inquisitively.

"No," said Mike firmly. "Why would you want to do that?" Tyler shrugged.

"Just a thought".

"Tracy?" asked Carmen.

"Yeah?"

"Can we bury somebody in the sand?"

"No, why would you want to do that?" Tracy laughed, and Carmen put on a puppy dog face.

"Oh fine, you can bury Gina if you want," she said, out of earshot of Gina.

"Won't that take a while?" asked Gus. Carmen and Tracy laughed.

"Thank god she didn't hear that," Tracy said.

"Are you okay, Harry?" asked Sapphire.

"Yes, and Jeff is too," came the eight-year-old's reply.

I heard Siren laughing. She had a distinctive laugh. It was more than a little bit over the top, but it was practically contagious. I looked in front of me, craning my neck to see what Siren was laughing about. _Oh my god! _I thought. Siren and Rick were _kissing._ Rick was nearly eating Siren's face. I thought about how Carmen and Kitty would feel. Though she didn't admit it, it was obvious Carmen fancied Rick, and Kitty was good friends with him, so-

Anyway, the minibus continued on its journey.

* * *

><p>We reached the beach, and everybody clambered out of the minibus, hauling hats, beachballs and sun cream out with them. The kids immediately ran onto the sand and decided to play tag on the beach. Harry and Sapphire started running around, tagging people. I didn't want to join in. Carmen, Lily and Tee were walking about, talking about girly... stuff.<p>

I went up to them.

"Lily, can I have a word?" Carmen and Tee wolf-whistled and Lily followed me back to the minibus. This was the time. I was ready. My heart was racing, but I was ready.

"Look, Lily, I could spend ages giving a huge explanation about this. But I won't. Lily, will you go out with me?" I asked.

She looked surprised. "Look, Demon, you're a really cute guy, but your personality is just – you just go round hurting people all the time". I nodded, pretending I was fine with that, my heart breaking. I could hear it breaking.

As I turned to leave, Lily said, "Sorry for blaming you for my room, Demon". I nodded again.

"And, er, well done on the Elektra thing. It was funny," she added. I couldn't talk. My throat felt dry. I went up the steps into the minibus, sat into my seat, pulled my hood up on my jumper, and started sobbing. I felt like my life was over. My heart cracked into a million pieces.

Next Chapter: SIBLING RIVALRY


	16. Sibling Rivalry

**Here it is: the penultimate chapter of Part 1 of A Demon at Elm Tree House. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE<strong>

**by BizarrePineapple15**

**Chapter 16: Sibling Rivalry**

I didn't talk to anybody on the minibus, instead gazing out of the windows at thin air, preparing to look interested. When the others asked me questions or tried to engage in conversation, I ignored them and went back to looking out of the window.

As soon as we got back to Elm Tree House, I leapt out of the minibus and the minute Mike opened the doors with his key, I ran up the stairs. Mike frowned. I sprinted up the next flight of stairs and went along the corridor, walking past Johnny's bedroom on the way. I went in and peered out of the window. I could see Johnny, and most of the other kids, still by the minibus, hauling sun cream and hats inside. _Well, _I thought. _I'm literally heartbroken after what Lily said, so... I need something to cheer me up_. I had a eureka moment. Destroy it. Payback for the incident that started our enmity, when he said I had kicked him on my first night. I felt devious. I had work to do.

I grabbed some papers lying on his desk, hurling them onto the floor. I messed up the bed, and then I took the duvet out into the hallway and went up the stairs to the attic. I left the duvet in there, and came back down to his room. I found a bottle of water lying by his bed. I tipped it all over the floor, making a huge damp patch. The water spread on to some of the papers on the floor. I started laughing. This was fun. It could become a regular thing. I flung open his wardrobe doors, and started throwing clothes all over the floor. The whole place looked hideous. It was one of the biggest messes I'd ever seen. I laughed, and ran to my room.

My happiness at destroying my enemy's bedroom faded away when I thought of Lily's answer_. Look, Demon, you're a really cute guy, but your personality is just – you just go round hurting people all the time_. Lily wanted me to change my personality. Easier said than done. I couldn't change. I wouldn't be taken seriously. When I first went into care, I was a bit of a goody-goody two shoes (probably because I was three years old), and I got bullied for it. I quickly learned that beating people up was probably the best thing to do. I would be bullied again if I changed. I sniffed, trying to hold back the tears. Life was SO hard.

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><p>One week after the diabolical trip to the beach, I got a slight bit of good news. I had been very reclusive, locked in my bedroom all day and not talking to anybody. Gradually, I decided to come out of my room a bit more. All fingers were pointed on me for the destruction of Johnny Taylor's bedroom, but I denied it, and nobody had any evidence to prove it was me, so they couldn't blame me.<p>

The good news was that Mike had agreed to letting me paint my room. I had to make bargains and compromises and pleas, but he had agreed to let me redesign my boring, bland old room, on certain conditions. He'd even typed out a document telling me some basic ground rules, and had made me agree to sticky tape it to the back of my door. The document was:

_As part of a bargain made with Mike Milligan, Head Careworker at Elm Tree House, Demon Traylen must follow these rules, which are in full operation from 4 February 2012:_

_No running away from Elm Tree House._

_No pushing people down stairs._

_No punching people if they have not done anything to you._

_No punching people if they have done anything to you._

_No hitting people._

_No kicking people._

_Demon Traylen has agreed to these rules. Any breaking of these rules will result in sanctions._

* * *

><p>That was on Saturday. On Sunday the 5th, I went downstairs at seven o'clock in the morning to find Elektra, Tee, Carmen, Harry and Gus already awake.<p>

"So, Mike says you're getting your room redesigned," Carmen said, yawning.

"Yeah, but I have to stick to some stupid rules," I said, "no running away, no pushing people down stairs, no punching people, no hitting people, no kicking people," I explained.

"Rules aren't stupid," Harry said.

"He's right," Gus observed, flicking through his notebooks. "When we all had bedtimes to stick to, and Tracy was the only person here, we all stayed up past our bedtimes and that ended up in a broken ceiling. When we were told not to stage a protest, we did, and Lily fell off the roof. When we were told not to lock ourselves in the cellar, we did, and Mike nearly called the police. When we were told not to go into somebody's bedroom without knocking first in case they needed privacy, Callie McDonald went into somebody's bedroom without knocking first in case they needed privacy, and – well, that didn't exactly end well".

Tee shuddered.

"Actually, I think you'll find Demon's right," said Elektra. Everybody turned to face her.

"Thanks, Lex," I said. Me and Elektra had now become best friends. We both had the same interests – hurting people.

"Rules are ruining your lives, can't you see? Bedtimes, the 'no children under 12 allowed to go into town without an adult' rule, rules are pointless and stupid. And you're welcome, Demon". I smiled.

"Your room has been filled with loads of people, according to this floor plan Elektra stole from the office," said Gus. "When Elm Tree House was founded in 2007, it was occupied by a boy named Hank. He left after two days. Then it belonged to a girl called Callie McDonald, who lived there for a year and a half. Then it belonged to a boy named Toby, who lived there for three years. Then it belonged to Kitty, who lived there for half a year, but then she moved into Liam's old room".

"So, what are you going to do with the room, Demon?" asked Tee cheerily.

"No idea. It's definitely going to be black, with really bright white LED light thingies dangling down from the ceiling. I don't know what else I'll do," I admitted airily.

"You don't deserve a new room, after you destroyed Johnny's," said Siren, speaking for the first time that day as she entered the room.

"You believe I destroyed his room?"

"Yeah I do. Got a problem?" she asked violently.

"Who's side are you on?"

"If you're going to destroy other people's bedrooms and then ask for Mike to spend good money on redesigning yours, I think I'm on Johnny's side. I don't want to be on your side, considering you're an ugly little !$%!. The word began with 't'. It also ended in 't'. I realised that she hated my guts.

"Just because you're apparently my sister doesn't mean I can't punch you".

"Really? Well, if you punch me, you won't be allowed to redo your room. That doesn't mean _I_ can't punch _you_".

I glared at her, and stormed out of the room, going back to my room. It was destroyed. Utterly destroyed. Not as much of a bomb testing site as Johnny's room was, but I would have to spend _hours _putting everything right. There were two main suspects – Johnny Taylor, and Siren Traylen. I already knew who it was. Siren. But I couldn't punch her. I was helpless.

**Next chapter: REVOLUTION**

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><p><strong>SUBMIT A CHARACTER! The character can be any age from 6 to 14, and can be a boy or a girl.<strong>

**1. Their full name**

**2. Their age and/or DOB (any age between 6 years and 14 years)**

**3. Boy or girl?**

**4. A short description of them - their physical appearance, the clothes that they wear, the music they like, their personality etcetera.**

**The 4th one is quite important. PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR ENTRIES BY REVIEW OR PM. I will pick the winner. I'd really appreciate it if at least 1 person could do this. If you win, you will be credited in all chapters in which your character appears. You have until 20 February to do this. Thank you. Bye!**


	17. Leaving Isn't Hard

**Thanks everybody for your entries to the competition, which closes on the 12th. To clarify, NOT EVERY CHARACTER WILL BE FEATURED IN THE STORY. There will be only two winners. I have enjoyed reading the four submissions so far, and I know it'll be really hard picking my two winners. The next chapter will be published on the 19th, because this chapter closes with a cliffhanger to get you waiting for Chapter 18...**

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><p>I was beginning to hate life at the Dumping Ground, my home for the past month or so. Kitty and Elektra seemed to be the only people in the whole house who liked me, my only crush in the whole world didn't want to go out with me, and my own sister – one of only two blood relations – had turned against me. All these things depressed me, and I was seriously considering asking Mike if I could leave Elm Tree House.<p>

Sometimes at night, when I was the only one awake (I generally stayed awake very, very late) I cried one or two tears. I thought about my dad. On the night three days after Siren had decided to betray me, I had a flashback to the events of 20 March 2003, the day... the day I learned of my dad's horrible death:

"_Demon, come here, I have to tell you something important," said Mum. I leapt into her arms._

"_Why are you crying?" I asked, seeing the tears in her eyes._

"_Well, you know Daddy?"_

"_Yes, I do know Daddy"._

"_Well, I've had a phone call from his work manager, Mr. Roberts, and he's told me that... that..."_

"_What is it, Mummy?"_

"_Daddy has died"._

"_What does that mean, Mummy?" _

"_Well, he's been really hurt in a fire at the place where he was working, and he's gone to sleep, and he'll never wake up"._

"_Can't somebody pinch him awake?"_

"_No Demon. You're not going to see Daddy any more"._

_I understood suddenly and started crying. Life was SO hard._

I slipped into a deep sleep, trying to think of nice things.

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><p>I woke up the next morning, in the garden shed, surrounded by plastic toys and disused garden equipment.<em>WHAT? <em>I thought. _Oh my god, they've only gone and LOCKED ME IN THE SHED, _I thought. The door was locked. $#_*! _I cursed in my head. I had a rather comical vision of all the kids trying to lift my body out of the house and into the shed without Mike, Gina or Tracy noticing, but I dismissed the thought almost immediately. My main priority was getting out of this prison. I kicked down the door viciously with one well-aimed kick – the door was not very sturdy, and the shed was practically rotting into the grass. Once I had got out, I was filled with anger and fury.

I ran up to the house angrily, storming straight into the office. Mike and Gina were busy typing out documents. Tracy was elsewhere, probably playing with the kids.

"I want to move," I demanded. "Now".

"Demon, why on earth would you-?" started Mike.

"I woke up today in the shed, having been locked in here by the tyrants I have to live with. My own sister hates me. I have maybe two friends in the entire house. I want to leave. I hate living here. I don't care where I go, just send me somewhere else," I ordered.

"Demon, surely you can forget about it? We'll sanction the kids, yes, but surely, _surely _you can forget about this and get on with life".

"No, I can't. It's like there's some kind of revolution against me. Please, do this one thing for me – find somewhere else".

"Okay, Demon. We'll see what we can do," Mike agreed.

"Thank you," I said, using my least favourite words. I walked out of the office and stormed up to my bedroom. I wanted to leave Elm Tree House. And I never wanted to see it again.

* * *

><p>That evening, at 8pm, Mike called me into the office. I had been going nowhere near the other kids for the whole day, because I hated their guts. I was curious as to why Mike had summoned me to his office, but I still went to the office. Mike was relaxing in his chair with his glasses on, looking rather happy with himself.<p>

"Demon, we've found you a new care home". I felt joy spreading through my body.

"Thank you so much!" I shouted in excitement.

"Even better, they are willing to take you tomorrow. They are allowed a maximum of eight kids, that's what the Government has said is the legal limit, and the careworkers seem to be quite friendly people. They're willing to take another kid, seeing as they only have six at the moment".

"Thank you, honestly, thank you!" I exclaimed, overjoyed. Bye-bye Tee and your stupid sewing, bye-bye Seth and your stupid Afro, bye-bye Gus and your stupid facts, bye-bye everything that I hated at Elm Tree House.

"One thing though – it's Icehill Care Home". I gulped. Icehill? Icehill was probably the worst care home in existence. Half the kids who went into Icehill ended up in hospital within a year. It was the most dangerous care home permitted to be run legally. It was, in some ways, worse than Elm Tree House. And that was where I was going to be staying. I was scared. Really scared.

* * *

><p>The next day, I had packed all my things, had breakfast, and waited for the car to arrive which would take me to Icehill. At 10:00am, it arrived. Gina put my bags in the car and the careworker, who was apparently named Angela, arrived. The kids had formed a line, waiting to say goodbye. I walked down the stairs for the last time, walking past all the kids until I got to the last few: Lily, Kitty and Elektra. I hugged Kitty and knuckle punched Elektra, my best friend in the world.<p>

"Good luck," she said. I then went out to the car, where Tracy, Mike and Gina were waiting with Angela, who was quite secretive or shy.

"Bye, Tracy. Bye, Mike and Gina," I said. Lily came out.

"Demon, I'm sorry," she said. She hugged me and I felt so happy, but sad too – _why do I have to leave? _I got into the car, and prepared myself for a new chapter of my life, a new chapter spent at Icehill Care Home.

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><p>The car sped along the roads, the driver not talking once. I leaned forward, peering at the driver in the mirror. My heart started racing in panic and fear. The driver was unmistakeably my dad, my dad who had been dead for nine years. And, as I leaned closer, I saw that in his hand... was a gun.<p> 


	18. Family Reunions and New Kids

**A DEMON AT ELM TREE HOUSE PART 2**

**Thank you for all 32 reviews, and thank you for the entries for the Submit-A-Character competition. The two winners are: TheDamSnackbar, for submitting Lorna Blackwood (who will feature in a later chapter, perhaps Chapter 20) and Abrey98, for submitting Evie King (who features in this chapter). Now, back to the action...**

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><p><em><strong>PREVIOUSLY<strong>_

_The car sped along the roads, the driver not talking once. I leaned forward, peering at the driver in the mirror. My heart started racing in panic and fear. The driver was unmistakeably my dad, my dad who had been dead for nine years. And, as I leaned closer, I saw that in his hand... was a gun._

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><p>My heart was beating faster than it had ever beaten before. I was one step away from a heart attack. My brain couldn't process this, I didn't believe it. My dad died when I was two – true, nobody had ever found his body, but the fire at his workplace was so big that it was impossible for him to have survived. How could he be here, now? Even if he'd survived the fire, how did he know all about Elm Tree and Icehill? And more importantly – why was he holding a gun?<p>

The truth dawned on me. He wanted to kill me. He was a maniac, just like my mum. The gun was to kill me – it would be like in those movies where the taxi driver drives the hero to a deserted place and tries to kill them, and then it turns out the taxi driver is the hero's worst enemy. How could I escape without him realising?

First, I pounded on the windows, hoping somebody would notice me. It didn't work. I fished my phone out of my pockets. Damn! I had no signal. I was helpless. Then, I tried the obvious solution. To open the doors. They wouldn't budge.

"Darn child-lock," I said, just a bit too loud. Dad turned around.

"Came as standard," he replied.

"So, I guess you survived the fire," I said, trying not to look scared.

"Obviously".

"How did you know I was going to go to Icehill today, from Elm Tree House?"

"I have... contacts".

"If it was Johnny Taylor, then we can turn right around and I will go to Elm Tree and snap his neck".

"No, it was... others".

"Well... when are you going to kill me?"

"Kill you? Why would I want to-"

"I can see the gun".

"Oh. Well, your answer is soon".

"Great. So, are we off to the family reunion? Is Aunt Doris going to crop up unexpectedly too?"

He didn't reply, and we kept travelling down the roads. Suddenly, my eyes were penetrated with a blinding blue light coming from behind the car. _A police car! _I realised. This was going to be one day where I didn't get killed. There was no police siren. If there was, Dad would no doubt have nearly broken the accelerator pedal. The police car drew level to us, and I saw another police car swerving and stopping right in front of us, completely closing the car in. There was no escape for Dad, and three policemen got out of the cars. They walked up to the window and pounded on it. Then, they wrenched open the doors.

"You're going with us, sonny Jim," they said, "to a place where you really belong: a jail cell". They dragged dad out and, even though he'd just attemped to murder me, I felt slightly sad. I had three blood relations left on the face of the planet and one was in a lunatic hospital, one had betrayed me, and the last was going to be in a jail cell come lunch time. Suddenly, I saw another car pulling up. A dark-haired, tanned woman got out. She was wearing a brown cardigan and a floral patterned dress. She went up to a police officer, flashing some ID she fished out from her back pocket.

"Angela Freschi, Icehill Care Home. I was supposed to be in the car taking him to Icehill, but this lunatic got there first".

The policeman nodded, and Angela got back into the car she had driven in. I got out of my car, picked up my stuff out of the boot of the car, and immediately collapsed into the arms of a police officer, my legs buckling. They carried me and my stuff to Angela's car, murmuring things to each other, and after checking I was okay, they left me.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Angela asked.

"I think so".

"I'd imagine that was the fright of your life".

"It was".

"Well, I'm Angela, from your new carehome, Icehill. I'd imagine you'll need a lie-down after that. Anyway, we're only a minute or so away from Icehill. I'm honestly very sorry for that". She started driving.

Angela was in her late thirties, and she told me about the second-in-command, Waris, who was apparently in his late forties. I had been previously told by Mike and Gina that a third careworker, Skye Wottinger, also worked at Icehill. She was a young, new careworker who had been part of the Icehill faculty for five months. She was a bit like Tracy then, I presumed.

"Well, Demon, I'm sure you'll like it at Icehill. It's a nice place. I do understand that we don't have the best reputation, but that was mainly due to the previous head careworker, Hank, who's now in prison".

"Mike said you had six kids".

"We do. There's one or two that are around your age".

We pulled up to Icehill at that moment. It was a smaller building than Elm Tree House, but was painted pretty much the same. It had a few upper windows visible. Apparently it was designed by the same man who designed Elm Tree House, so it was quite similar inside. Allegedly. The door was big and wooden. Angela pushed it open as I gathered my stuff from the car.

"Angela, we heard the news," came a frantic girls voice. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine, we think. He'll just need a lie-down. You can say hello when he comes down".

I went through the doors into the house. The actual positions of everything: the stairs, doors and sofa, were the same as with Elm Tree, but the Icehill staff had made it a huge orange and purple place, with soft carpeting and an orange velvet sofa. I wondered where the heck you could buy an orange velvet sofa, but then I dismissed the thought, and went up the stairs, noticing six kids and two careworkers at the top of the stairs.

The careworkers were as Angela had described. The first kid looked a bit younger than me, and was a girl with quite short hair (for a girl). The second kid was a small boy who looked a little bit like Harry. Next to him was a boy who looked about Liam's age, and a girl who had flowing blonde hair and was wearing pink clothes. Diva. Lastly, there was a little girl with brown hair in pigtails. She was wearing dungarees and had a piece of jam on toast in her mouth. Hiding at the back was a slightly brown girl with long black hair. _Indian? _I thought. I went up the stairs to find a large expanse of purple and orange carpet. There were three little steps, and up them were two bedrooms (both marked with decorative plaques) and a bathroom. In the other direction were four little steps, and up them were two bedrooms on either side of a wooden chest with TOYS written on the side. The bedroom on the left had a colourful plaque reading 'EVIE'S ROOM'. My bedroom was on the right, and was marked with a sheet of paper with DEMON'S ROOM written on it with marker pen. I went in to my room, and collapsed onto the bed, surveying the room.

The room had an average-sized bed with blue sheets and blue pillows, as well as a large wardrobe in the corner, and cream carpet – not what I would have chosen, but it was quite nice anyway. There was a set of drawers against the wall and some more storage space against the other wall. There was an interesting view from the large window: my room was at the back of the house, so I could see the large garden – it was a similar size to the Elm Tree House garden. There was nobody out there, even though it was a sunny day.

I went to sleep, even though it was only 11:00am, thinking about the events of the day, _e.g. _meeting an allegedly dead relative.

* * *

><p>I woke up and peered at a clock resting on a small table by my bed. It read 15:40. I'd been asleep for nearly five hours. I remembered everything that had happened that day. Then I remembered that in 37 days, I had been shot at by my dead dad, involved in a police car chase (sort of), met my sister for the first time ever, been to anger issues classes, covered somebody in orange juice, escaped, been hit by a speeding car, been rejected at the seaside, been pushed down some stairs, met my worst enemy for the first time in two years, and become temporarily paralysed from the waste down. Wow, I have an eventful life. I got out of my bed and opened the door, walking down the stairs. I remembered that downstairs had a similar structure, so if I was right, the lounge would be around the sofa, and the first door on the right. I followed my instincts, and reached the closed lounge door. I braced myself, and pushed it open.<p>

The kids all noticed me as soon as the doors opened.

"Who are you?" asked the boy of Liam's age who had hair similar to Rick's.

"Don't be rude Jamie, you know who it is," said the young boy of Harry's age, reprimanding the boy who was double his age.

"It? _It? _He's a _he_, not an _it_," said one of the girls, the one who was obviously a huge diva, with blonde hair. Had she- yes she had. She'd changed clothes since I first saw her. Who does that? Diva. They were like some sort of weird comedy double act. Except there were six of them.

"What's your name?" asked the girl who had short hair (for a girl, but quite long for a boy).

"I'm Demon".

"Wow! Cool name!" enthused the girl who still had a piece of jam on toast in her mouth.

"Thanks. What are your names?"

"I'm Jamie, Jamie Dykes," said the oldest boy, pushing himself forward pompously.

"Don't listen to him, he thinks he's in control of everyone, just cos' he's the oldest.I'm Evie King, eight years old. I like jam on toast, erm, and The Wanted. That's all you need to know," said the girl in denim dungarees and Converse trainers.

"I'm Oscar Vickers, I'm seven," explained the smallest boy, a bit nervously.

"Cara Trippier, nine years old," said the girl with short hair. She was clutching a football book.

"She's obsessed with football," said Evie, who seemed to be surprisingly confident and a tad outgoing.

"Demon?" said the diva, criticising my name.

"Viva?" I asked, ridiculing hers. She didn't know that I'd learnt a lot about her from the decorative plaque I studied before.

"How do you know my name?"

"In the same way I know that most of your family is Cuban, you are a quarter Greek, have had, ooh, four relationships in the past few years, none of them have worked out very well, not surprising really, erm, you have no family left, and absolutely despise hard work. You like pretty patterns, and have some sort of craving for broccoli".

She stared at me blankly, amazed that I'd got everything right.

"Nine hours of _Sherlock _re-runs, you learn things," I explained, having watched all six episodes of the amazing TV show only last week.

"Steven Moffat, Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman?" she asked, as I realised that VIVA rhymed with DIVA.

"Best show on telly," I replied. "Who's the girl hiding behind... Oscar?".

"Oh, that's Avani Mordias. She's about your age, 11, but she's really shy".

"Okay".

This was going to be fun. Life at Icehill Care Home.


	19. Remember remember, the Fifth of November

"Dinnertime!" cried Angela LOUDLY two hours later, as I sat down at the table in the kitchen for tuna pasta bake. I got served a large portion, and started wolfing it down: I realised that I was starving. The other kids filed in.

"Why did _he _get served first?" asked Viva, pointing a finger at me.

"Because Demon was here first," replied Waris, handing out cups.

"So, why have you come here?" asked Oscar.

"Because I didn't want to live at my old care home any more".

"Why not?" enquired the seven-year-old.

"Because I hated everyone".

I started eating the tuna pasta bake.

* * *

><p>After tea, Jamie went off to his bedroom to do 'important stuff' (that's what he called it) and Avani shyly ran off to her bedroom. So me, Evie, Oscar, Viva and Cara went into the lounge. There was a large TV and a fair-sized computer sitting in the corner gathering dust, with two enormous orange-and-purple sofas and a fireplace. There were no pictures on the orange-and-purple walls. I seriously wondered where all this orange and purple stuff came from. It was probably custom made for the care home. There was a pack of cards lying around on top of the TV, so Oscar asked if he could play a game with them.<p>

"All right, how about poker?" suggested Cara.

"Are you trying to get Oscar into gambling?" asked Evie, concerned.

"All right, we'll play sevens," Cara conceded.

She handed out seven cards to everybody, including me.

"Wait, wait, wait – who said I wanted to play?" I asked.

"Nobody, we just thought you'd want to. There's nothing better to do round here, is there?"

I had a lightbulb moment, an idea. "There is".

* * *

><p>"What will this actually <em>do<em>?" asked Viva.

"We put the root resolvers in here," I said, gesturing to the toilet in the careworkers' bathroom.

"Root resolvers?" Evie intervened.

"According to one of my old careworkers, you put one root resolver into a toilet, to make it flush better. If you put ten root resolvers in, it'll make it flush so well that the careworker will be drenched in what they've just got rid of, before they have time to think".

"You mean, they'll end up covered in poo?" asked Evie.

"Basically, yeah". The plan would work. It had worked before on one of the careworkers in a care home I stayed at when I was six: I was chucked out soon afterwards. If nobody found out it was my idea, everything would be fine.

"And the plan will benefit from this hidden camera," I said, fishing a small white camera out of my pocket. "We set it to record, wait for a careworker to come in to the toilet, and then... we see everything that happens on the monitor I put in Viva's bedroom".

Viva was shocked. "My bedroom? Why mine?"

"It's full of junk anyway".

"I've put the camera at an angle so we won't see anything rude," I pointed out.

We put the root resolvers in the toilet, and walked out of the bathroom cautiously, checking to see if careworkers were near. We ran to Viva's bedroom.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, we were in Viva's room, when a knock came at the door.<p>

"Come in!" yelled Oscar.

"No! We have to hide the monitor!" I said, referring to the huge monitor linked up to the camera in the bathroom.

"Don't come in!" shouted Oscar.

Cara put the monitor under the bed and we all sat down in front of the bed, thereby obscuring the monitor. Skye came in. She was a pretty girl of twenty, who had outrageously fake eyelashes and wore pink most of the time.

"We're going to make hot chocolate and popcorn downstairs in ten minutes, okay?"

We all nodded and she retreated out of the room.

"That was close," Evie sighed as she dragged the monitor out from under the bed. We all peered at the screen. Skye entered the bathroom! Result! She... erm... went to the toilet, stood up and flushed it. However, the toilet started making gurgling noises, and a shower of... what she'd just got rid of... spurted into her face! It was hilarious, and we started giggling as she screamed. The shower stopped and she ran out of the bedroom, towelling down her head, and marching off to her bedroom (for when she stayed overnights). We all laughed. Skye had not much of a technical mind, so she would think it was a problem with the toilet, not a practical joke. Result.

* * *

><p>One week after I'd arrived, I began to learn a lot about Icehill. It was quite hard adjusting to the new care home, as it sometimes is, but I'd formed a sort of friendship with Oscar, Cara and Evie. I had to live with Viva, Jamie and Avani, like it or not, but Avani was a nice girl, when I saw her. Jamie seemed horrible, but Avani was nice, although she confined herself to her room all the time, and was extremely nervous. Because there were only six other kids at the care home, as opposed to 14 others at Elm Tree, all of the kids were good friends with each other. Oscar seemed to like me, and every day I promised that I'd read a bedtime story to him. True, Waris told me to read a story, but I complied with his demands happily. Oscar was nice.<p>

Viva McPhee was a huge diva, as I'd suspected. I didn't know if she was a natural blonde, but it seemed unlikely. She changed her clothes four times per day, and had a handbag swinging around her quite a lot of the time. True, she told good jokes, but she was always getting on my nerves, whereas Evie was a very confident kid who I liked, who listened to The Wanted music whilst eating jam on toast, practically _all day_.

Breakfast was served at 7:30am, with lunch at 12:30pm and dinner at 5:45pm. Hot chocolate and popcorn was generally made on Friday and Saturday nights. We mainly played in the lounge all day, though there was a strict computer rota: my slot was 2:00 – 3:10. I never used the computer anyway. There were lots of places to play hide-and-seek, and the vast garden provided endless fun. It was quite nice, playing with other children who I vaguely liked, but I still had to fight the urge to badly punch Jamie whenever I saw him, and give Viva a black eye.

The careworkers had quite bubbly personalities, although Skye sometimes messed things up. She was very angry about the toilet problem, but she had no idea it was us – neither did Waris or Angela. Waris was a bit of a mute – he didn't talk that much, though Angela enjoyed interacting with the kids and was happy to help whenever she could. There was always activity at Icehill Care Home.

* * *

><p><em>November 5 2012<em>

I'd been moved to Icehill in February 2012, and it was now November 2012. Icehill was still going strong, despite some worrying budget problems I'd learned of by sneaking into the office whilst none of the careworkers were there. I'd told all the kids, even Jamie, and they seemed to be cutting back on some things. Still ('they' meaning the careworkers), they didn't know we knew. So everything was fine. It wasn't like the whole care home would be closed down. We were surviving. On September 15th, it had been my 12th birthday, so that made me feel a bit special. Everyone threw a huge party, and I got a few decent presents.

After breakfast on the 5th, me and the other kids decided to make a Guy Fawkes effigy indoors: it was raining outside, and we didn't want to spoil our special Guy. It was, what 407 years since Guy Fawkes nearly blew up Parliament. We erected our Guy in the attic, which was a dusty domain with not much in it. Oscar was sitting in the furthest corner, and the rest of us were on the other side of the Guy. Jamie came up the stairs to the attic, wielding a cigarette lighter. _Stupid b!tch! _I thought. Why does he smoke? He knows he's ruining his own life.

"Impressive Guy," he admitted. "Just needs one thing". He lit a stick of wood which he had in his hand, and threw it onto the Guy, which was made of straw. It set alight within seconds, forming a wall of fire between us and Oscar. The fire licked the top of the attic.

"Get down the stairs!" screamed Viva. My heart was pounding. Oscar was on the other side. I heard him screaming. Viva ran downstairs, and the others started to follow. I ran after them. I had to get to a careworker. We ran into Angela.

"What's up with you?" she asked.

"Fire in the attic!" screeched Cara, running into Angela.

"What's all the commotion?" asked Skye, appearing in the doorway.

"A fire in the attic!" cried Jamie.

"Jamie started it. He threw a burning stick onto our Guy!" said Viva, pointing an accusing finger at Jamie. The smoke alarms started beeping manically, as smoke poured out of the attic.

"Oscar's in there!" I screamed, running up the stairs to frantic cries of "Demon, no!" from the careworkers. I scrambled up to the attic and saw the fire consuming everything. I could hear crying from the other side of the wall of fire, and I dived into the fire, feeling it licking me, burning me. I screamed in pain, and I saw Oscar on the other side of the room. I grabbed him with both my hands and clinged onto him tightly. Most of the attic was alight, but for a small gap in the wall of fire which was small enough for Oscar to penetrate, but too big for me. I dived once again into the wall of fire and felt it sear my flesh, burning my body. I felt red-hot pain. I looked at my hand, and immediately wished I hadn't. It was black as charcoal, and I gasped. I started crying as I hauled Oscar down the stairs to where the others were. Waris ran upstairs with a fire extinguisher and I heard it squirting the fire out. I put Oscar down with the other kids and everybody gasped as they saw me, covered in blood and blackened. I felt so weak, tears streaming down my cheeks. Then I collapsed onto the floor, praying this "hell on earth" would end.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Didn't expect that, did you? Maybe? No? I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, as always. Did you like the description of the fire? I thought it was pretty good. Make sure you read every single word of it. And don't worry, Demon will be alright. Hopefully. The next chapter is entitled 'Revelation'**


	20. Revelation

**Chapter 20 already! Now, we get to see what happens after the fire at Icehill! This chapter's got a reference in to Lorna Blackwood, the character submitted for the competition by TheDamSnackbar. So... enjoy! And yes, I did watch Summer Holiday. It was pretty good!**

* * *

><p>"Master Traylen, Master Traylen," a female voice said. Nobody would call me Master Traylen if they knew me, so this person didn't know me, which meant she was either another psychiatrist, or a paedophile, or- I remembered the events which happened before I blacked out. The fire. Oscar. My hand. I jolted up into a sitting position, my eyes flipping open to see a nurse bending over me. She had long black hair and a warm smile. Her outfit was adorned with a name badge reading "GEMMA". I was in a hospital bed, in a ward, in a hospital. As I peered over the nurse, I noticed two other beds. Nobody was in them. I also noticed a sign reading 'CHILDREN'S WARD 2'.<p>

"Oscar, is he okay?" I asked, worriedly. I screamed as the pain hit me: a sudden, enormous amount of pain all over my body. From the fire. I felt hot all over. It felt like I was still burning. The pain was agonising.

"Oscar Vickers is completely fine. He got a bit of a shock from the heat, but there's no physical damage. What matters most is _you_, Demon Traylen".

"What matters most is putting Jamie Dykes in prison for attempted murder of six kids and three careworkers".

"No, you come first. I gather that you dived twice into a wall of fire".

"Yes. I had to save Oscar," I admitted, feeling a sharp pain in my wrist. And my head. And my arms. And my legs.

"That was a tad irresponsible, Demon. However, seeing as you're in this state, nobody'll blame you for anything. You saved the life of a seven-year-old. That takes bravery and courage. However, you were severely burned on most of your body, the most severe burns being on your right hand, but you'll be okay if you get rest here for two weeks". I looked at my hand: it was bandaged. I was being scolded by a nurse named Gemma.

"Is everybody okay?" I asked.

"Yes. The fire's been put out. Jamie Dykes will go to court in two months time for allegedly starting the fire on purpose. All the children and careworkers are okay, and you have a message from a young girl called Viva McPhee – I gather you know her? She said, "'Are you okay Demon? Thank you for saving Oscar's life. Everybody is very grateful to you, especially Oscar'"

"Thanks for giving me the message," I said, feeling more pain. "What time is it?"

"It's half-nine in the morning, 7th November. You've been unconscious for 47 hours, and you'll be able to leave hospital on Monday the 19th, hopefully. Are you okay? Do you need anything?".

"No, I'm fine, thanks".

"Well, the doctors say that you must take these painkillers every hour, or you'll scream the whole place down". She handed me a painkiller tablet and a glass of water. I took the tablet and drank the water greedily. The pain slowly weakened.

Gemma the nurse left at that moment and I thought about everything that had happened. I didn't dare peer underneath the bandages on my hands and legs, for fear of what was underneath. I was reassured by the fact that I would be free to leave in two weeks, and I was happy that everybody from Icehill was unhurt.

I sat up in the bed for a while, and then went back to sleep, proud in the knowledge that I, Demon Traylen, was a life-saver.

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><p>One week later, I was still in hospital. It was largely boring, and there was nothing to do at all, apart from look at thin air like it was the most interesting sight on the surface of the planet. I had not many visitors, and four visits from Gemma the nurse each day were the only thing of interest that happened... until Monday 12th November...<p>

On that day, at 9am in the morning, I was resting. When I asked Gemma the nurse why there were no visitors (after I'd taken the tasteless painkiller and had some toast for breakfast), she said nobody could visit me for a week after I got sent to the hospital, to give me recovery time. I realised that it had been a week since I had gone into hospital, and I asked Gemma if there were any visitors.

"Maybe..." she teased. "There might be one group of three visitors due to arrive in about ten minutes..." With that, she left, leaving me with a tantalising hint.

The next ten minutes were torture. I had genuinely no idea who the three visitors were, until they arrived – the suspense was killing me. At least, I think it was the suspense. It could have been the burns. And I was so pleased when the visitors walked through the door. Warmth spread through me like wild**fire –** see what I did there? - as I saw the three people who had come to see me, as soon as they were allowed the privilege of doing so: Mike Milligan, Elektra and Siren Traylen. I beamed as they walked in. They all looked the same as they did nine months ago, Elektra's blue hair flying. She was wearing a blue top, and Siren was wearing a long dark green cardigan over a light green dress. Her hair was golden.

"Demon! Woah, you look hurt!" cried Siren, running towards me and noticing the fact that I was more or less entirely bandaged.

"Why do you now suddenly care about me?" I asked.

"Because you're slowly dying here".

"Moodkiller".

"Oh my god. You look really bad. Are you okay?" asked Elektra.

"Been better. You?"

"_Never _been better, little man". I laughed.

"Are you okay, Demon? You're looking really badly hurt. I mean, you're covered in bandages, head to toe". Mike was evidently concerned.

"I'm fine, Mike, don't worry. A boy named Jamie set the place on fire, and there was a seven-year-old trapped there, and I went up to the attic to save him and I dived into a fire. Twice," I told him.

"You really haven't changed, have you? Are you really okay though?"

"I feel okay, but I'm on painkillers, and when they start to wear off it's hell on earth. So, everything the same at the Dumping Ground?"

"Pretty much," said Siren.

"Me, Gina and Tracy are still there," explained Mike, "and Rick, Kitty, Harry, Gus, Johnny, Carmen, Lily, they're all still there. Liam and Frank have gone. So have Tyler, Sapphire and Tee, but they always visit: they're here most of the time".

Then Siren dropped a bombshell. "When you left... I became best friends with Sapphire... and she asked me... if I wanted to come and live with her in her flat... and I said yes... so I don't exactly live at the Dumping Ground any more... but I visit every time Sapph comes anyway... so I'm there five days a week any way". This was okay. At least I'd still be able to see my sister most of the time. I was glad she was here, now.

"There's a new girl called Lorna, she's 13. That's not the biggest thing, though. As you've apparently managed to find out already, Icehill is having money troubles. And, they've decided that they can't manage to keep the home running, what with the money they'd need to repair the attic. So... Icehill is shutting down, and we at Elm Tree House have arranged for you, Viva, Oscar, Cara and Evie, to come back and live at Elm Tree House. We have 8 kids at the moment. We can handle another five. So, Demon Traylen, I think it's time that you came back to Elm Tree House".

I beamed. Everything was going to be okay. I was going back to Elm Tree House.

* * *

><p><strong>Did you <em>really <em>see that one coming? Did you? The next chapter is called LIKE I NEVER LEFT.**


	21. Like I Never Left

Angela's car drove along the roads speedily. The journey seemed to go on for hours, though in reality it took twenty minutes: the journey to Elm Tree House.

At the hospital, Gemma the nurse had been adamant that I could not leave the hospital until the 19th, and it was pure torture having to wait until then, with nothing to say or do but think about Elm Tree. And I was surprised at the revelation that Oscar, Cara, Evie and Viva were coming with me to Elm Tree – I thought I'd got rid of Viva. In fact, she was sitting next to me in the car. Angela had been happy to see me in one piece, and decided to drive me to Elm Tree.

As we drove closer and closer to the house, I recognised some of the roads from the trip out to the beach, and from when I escaped on my first night. Then, we drove through the iron gates, and reached Elm Tree House.

The house was looking even better than it had before: it must have been recently painted. It had been over nine months since I saw Elm Tree House, and it looked splendid. The car drove up to the front of the house and I got out, gathering my things from the boot of the car. Mike, Gina and Tracy came outside, Gina in a floral patterned dress, Mike in his normal blue shirt, and Tracy in her standard black leather jacket. I had never been so pleased to see a careworker.

"Demon!" cried Tracy.

"Welcome back!" cried Gina.

"We're very glad to have you back at Elm Tree House," said Mike. I smiled.

"It's like I never left," I told him.

"We've kept your room completely as it is, apart from one thing. You'll see it when you go in there," said Tracy.

"And you must be the kids from Icehill," said Gina.

"Viva, Oscar, Evie and... Cara," Tracy said.

They nodded.

Then Mike said, "Well we're happy to have you at Elm Tree. We'll sort your rooms out in a minute".

I gathered up my things as Angela had a brief talk with Mike. They went into the office and I ran up the stairs, noticing all the things that had been there nine months ago, like Gus' piano. I walked down the corridors to my room, and dumped my stuff on the bed. Then I noticed that it was black.

I looked up. The whole room was black: the bed, wardrobe, desk. Everything was black. And hanging down from the ceiling were blindingly white LED lights. This was exactly as I had envisaged my room when I wanted to paint it. This was awesome. It was exactly what I wanted! I smiled and ran downstairs.

"Thank you!" I yelled.

"No problem," said Mike modestly. It probably was a bit of a problem, because all the black paint would cost quite a bit of money, but it was a nice gesture.

"Where is everyone?" I asked. Even Gina and Tracy had disappeared. Me, Viva, Oscar, Cara and Evie were the only people around. Everything was quiet.

"In the lounge," he explained.

"Thanks. This way, guys," I explained to the Icehill kids. We walked to the lounge and pushed open the door...

… to a huge "SURPRISE!", blowings of several hooter thingies, and balloons in the face – a surprise party! Everybody was there, looking even better than before: even Kitty had ventured out of her room. There was one girl who I didn't recognise with light brown curls: she must be Lorna. Carmen was wearing pink – surprise, surprise – and Tracy and Gina were there too. There was a huge banner reading "WELCOME TO ELM TREE HOUSE", and food everywhere: cakes, biscuits, everything!

"Woah!" exclaimed Evie.

"Welcome to Elm Tree House, Icehill kids!" shouted Tyler.

"And welcome back Demon," said Lily, who I'd just noticed. She was looking amazing! She was in a purple dress.

"You threw a party just for five kids?" asked Cara.

"Four special kids who've recently experienced a traumatising fire-" started Siren.

"And one extra-special kid who decided to put his life at risk to save a seven-year-old's life," finished Lily.

"Well, enough of the sob stories," said Johnny. "Let's get this party started! By the way, I still hate you for the orange juice, and the photograph, and the assaulting attacking thingy, you know that, right?"

"I threw a chair at you, of course you still hate me," I replied. Gina turned the music on and everybody started dancing and generally having a fun time. We all ate the food, and played games, and it was pretty nice. Everybody came up to me and told me how brave I was (I wasn't really listening) and Viva got on everybody's nerves, and Evie asked why there was no jam on toast, and generally it was amazing.

After the celebrations, which went on from 11am to 2pm, all us kids went off to play. The Icehill kids got talking to the Elm Tree kids, and I went up all the stairs to my new room. The two bedrooms nearest mine were Lorna's and Rick's rooms. I walked into my amazing black room, and flopped down on the bed. All my stuff was on the bed, where I'd put it three hours ago. I opened my suitcase and examined the contents: clothes mainly. Most of my clothes were my favourite colours: black, and dark blue. I'd heard that all Johnny's clothes were blue, and Gus only had 7 pairs of beige trousers and 7 navy polo shirts. At least I had some variation in my clothes. I picked up the dark blue shirt on the top, and put it on one of the black hangers in my black wardrobe. I hated hanging things up, but if I didn't do this, I'd be unable to see the black carpet in my new black room.

For the next five minutes, I kept hanging my clothes up. Then, the door was flung open and Johnny ran in.

"I take it the 'knock before you enter' rule has been abolished," I said.

"Sorry," came his reply. He shut the door and knocked.

"Come in," I said. He entered the room.

"Unpacking?" he asked.

"Obviously".

"You dived into a wall of fire? Twice?"

"Yes. I had to. There was a trapped seven-year-old".

"Right..."

"You know we're still going to be complete rivals, right?"

"Yeah". He left, and I continued unpacking. Two minutes later came another knock at the door.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Viva".

"Oh Jesus... come in!" I yelled, and Viva entered the room.

"This place is pretty nice. It's better than Icehill".

"You bet," I said, "it's Icehill without the orange-and-purple design, and with a lot more fun".

"Great. There's a kid called Lily who seems to like you".

"Well, I don't like her," I lied. She left, and I finished hanging up the clothes. After I'd done that, I moved onto my rucksack, which contained some books and some of my other things. I put those in my black wardrobe too.

Then, I decided to get my iPod out and listen to music for a while. I needed to relax in my new room. I selected 'Music', 'Artists', 'Michael Jackson', 'All Songs' and 'Shuffle'. The first song that was selected at random was 'Bad'. The music started playing, and I relaxed.

After about ten songs, ranging from 'Jam' to 'Sunset Driver' to 'Another Part of Me', I decided to go downstairs. Glancing at the clock, which read 15:20, I left the room to find Kitty outside.

"Welcome back, Demon," she said softly.

"I'm really happy to see you," I replied, and I walked down a corridor, where I bumped into Elektra: exactly who I wanted to see.

"Lex, do you want to look at everybody's files and find something embarrassing in there, to embarrass them with?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"Me too. I've got a plan. Gina's in the garden now, and Mike's out. I'll ask Tracy if she needs to know anything about the Icehill lot. Whilst me and Tracy are in the office, you come in, and say that Rick's escaped, and he's running away. She'll run after him, and we can look at the files".

"Good plan. Let's do this".

We knuckle-punched, and I went downstairs to the kitchen, where Tracy was preparing mid-afternoon snacks for everybody: biscuits and drinks. She was busy pouring orange squash into plastic cups when I came down.

"Hi, Demon! Enjoying it back at the Dumping Ground?" she asked.

"Yeah. Thanks for the party".

"Tracy?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you need any information about the Icehill kids. It's just that the files you got given were written about three years ago, and I know practically everything about them".

"Yeah, okay. Come on, we'll go to the office now".

We walked to the office, and Tracy sat down in her desk, preparing to write what I said, on the computer. She brought up a blank template for a file, and I opened my mouth, ready to tell her about Evie, Oscar, Cara and Diva-er, Viva- when-

"Tracy!" said Elektra, panting.

"What?"

"It's Rick. He ran away, like, five minutes ago".

"Holy pants!" she shouted. "I'll be right back!" She grabbed her coat, and ran out of the room.

"Biscuit?" asked Elektra, a biscuit in her hand. She must have got it from the kitchen, where Tracy had left a plate of biscuits unattended.

I took the biscuit, and she ate hers, as I grabbed the filing cabinet keys, and unlocked the filing cabinet, finding my two files: history and monitoring. I wanted to check some things over.

"Lex, I'm taking mine, putting them in my room. I'll check them over, get rid of anything I don't like, put the file back".

"I'm doing that too," she agreed, grabbing her file.

"Right, now, other people's files".

"We've gotta be quick," she said.

"Don't panic," I said, grabbing Johnny's blue file at random. I couldn't believe what I read.

"What is it?" asked Elektra.

"Look at this about Johnny," I said, sniggering. She saw it too, and started laughing madly.

We left the office with our files, putting Johnny's back, and putting the keys on the desk, still laughing about what we saw in Johnny's file.

"Can you believe it?" asked Elektra.

"No," I replied, "Johnny still sleeps with his 'blankie', and he sucks his thumb!" We carried on laughing, waiting for a way to tease Johnny about this.

I was back at Elm Tree House, and boy, this was going to be fun.


	22. How to Kill Rick Barber: A Masterclass

**A very, VERY big thanks to all the people who have read my story. Particular thanks to my reviewers: Cookie05, Abrey98, strawberrymagic01, amber'xx, uniquename, xrebelliouscinderella, Olivia1995 and TheDamSnackbar.**

* * *

><p>That night, we all had hot chocolate and popcorn, just like at Icehill. I told Elektra about the Toilet Trick we played on Skye at Icehill, and she laughed. A lot. Especially when I showed her the footage from the camera, which I'd managed to keep miraculously. I'd been told by Mike and Gina that Siren was going to be coming to stay for the day, tomorrow. I remembered about her and Rick at that moment.<p>

"Rick?" I asked him.

"Yes?" he enquired.

"You know you and Siren are together?"

"Yeah".

"Well, I've come up with a celebrity couple name for you".

"Oh god".

"Sick. It's all I could think of. Siren and Rick makes Sick".

"Lovely".

"Isn't it?"

"Thanks," he said sarcastically.

"My pleasure".

He went back to drinking his hot chocolate, as Mike slipped a movie in. It was Johnny English Reborn, and we were all practically glued to the screen. I'd seen it before, but it was one of the best films I'd ever seen. Me, Tyler, Cara, Evie, Gus, Johnny, Viva, Rick, Elektra and Lorna were watching the film: Oscar and Harry were in bed (it was already 8:00pm, and it was their bedtime) and Tee, Kitty, Carmen and Lily were chatting in the corner, Tee and Kitty sewing. I'd promised Oscar I would read him a bedtime story tomorrow. I had an idea.

"Lex?"

"Yeah?".

"It's time for Operation Thumb-and-Blankie".

"What the heck?"

"The Johnny thing".

"Oh". Me and Elektra crawled over to Johnny.

"Johnny?" asked Elektra.

"Yeah?"

"We found out a little something about you".

"What?"

"Oh, it's nothing," I said, "I'll just tell everybody that you sleep with a 'blankie' and suck your thumb at night".

"Oh my god, I do not suck my thumb! Or sleep with a blankie!" he shouted, all heads turning in his direction.

"Really? Well, Mike and Gina don't think so. Ask them if you can see your file," I said.

"Oh, I hate you!" he shouted, lunging at me. I blocked him.

"Play nice," I said. He scowled.

* * *

><p><em>The next day<em>

After the Johnny blankie thing, he avoided me. In all fairness, I did say we would stay enemies. I was right.

_The waves crashed all around me. The boat tilted violently, veering to one side. The sea was choppy and rough, the water in a mad frenzy. The boat lurched to one side, and my Mum tipped out, screaming. Shark fins protruded out of the water, circling the small boat, which shook. A huge, __malevolent wave sent the boat shaking so much Dad fell out. Triumphantly, the boat gave one final shake and I was sent toppling into the water..._

I woke up sweating and panting. Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I peered at my clock, which read 02:20. The nightmare had been there every single night since the fire at Icehill. Every single night I had woken up at about 2 o'clock in the morning, shaking and shuddering. I went back to sleep, praying the nightmare would go away.

I woke up a while later and read my bedside clock: it now read 9:12. Breakfast time.

Flinging myself out of bed and pulling on my dressing gown, I went downstairs, and turned to the living room, where all the kids and careworkers were gathered.

"What's erm, what's going on?" I asked.

"Oh, hi Demon. Good sleep?" asked Gina.

"No".

"Right, well, the local council have just announced a new piece of revolutionary software, which we are going to use," Mike explained.

"Oh no," I said, bracing myself.

"The council have announced this system, which is called Care-Kids-Connect. It's a website where young people in care all over the country can talk to each other. Me, Gina and Tracy have set up accounts for all of you. The idea is that you can make friends with other young people who are in care safely, online. Me, Tracy and Gina, as careworkers, can remove any of the comments you post. We'll give you all your passwords in private, and then you can begin whenever you want".

We all got our passwords from the careworkers, and the kids immediately flocked to the computers. Us kids were allowed the use of Gina's computer in the office, the laptop and our other computer to go on Care-Kids-Connect. I thought the idea was pathetic and rubbish, but I still had a nose around on it, at 3pm in the afternoon. In the Elm Tree House section, I found this:

**RECENT MESSAGES**

**Harry Mason **Jeff wonts to know wot to do here. _4 minutes ago_

**Gus Carmichael **Tracy explained everything. Were you listening? _4 minutes ago_

**Harry Mason **I was listning _4 minutes ago_

**Portia Davison **OMG Elm Tree House seems like a pretty cool place 3 _minutes ago_

**Gus Carmichael **Who are you and what are you doing on our forum? 3_ minute ago_

**Portia Davison **Isn't the whole point of this so that people from different care homes can become friends? LOL 2_ minutes ago_

**Gus Carmichael **I don't want to be friends with you. And what does LOL mean? _2 minutes ago_

**Portia Davison **I want to be friends with you _1 minute ago_

**Gus Carmichael **Harry, are you still there? I need saving from this creepy girl _40 seconds ago_

**Portia Davison **I can see what you've written U know _20 seconds ago_

Odd. Time to spark up this chat-room.

** NEW MESSAGES**

**Demon Traylen **Gus, I'm on this dump now. And why the HELL would I want to save you from a creepy girl? Actually... I want to mash her head in Mike's blender.

**Portia Davison has logged out.**

**Demon Traylen **She's gone now Gus.

**Gus Carmichael **How do you know she's gone?

**Demon Traylen **It says that she's logged out.

**Gus Carmichael **Oh. Where's Harry gone?

**Demon Traylen **How the hell would I know?

**Harry Mason has logged off.**

**Tee Taylor has logged on.**

**Tee Taylor **Hi guys! Harry's off, but I'm on now!

**Demon Traylen **Oh Jesus

**Demon Traylen has logged out.**

I got off the computer, leaving Lorna to have her turn on the computer. She seemed to be a very nice girl, generally. She was determined and fiesty, and was a very nice girl. Me and her weren't the best of friends, but were friendly. The day carried on.

* * *

><p><em>The next day<em>

I woke up at 7:30am and went downstairs to the lounge, where I found... nobody. Generally there would be about five kids down there already at this time. I searched the kitchen. Nobody. This was strange. I looked in every single room I could, but there was nobody. As a last resort, I tried the cellar, turning on the light-switch.

"Demon!" said Oscar.

"Oscar, what are you doing here?"

He moved a little so I could see every single other kid there.

"It's 7:30. Why are you all here? Why are you even up by now?" I asked.

"Because Elektra posted a rude comment on Care-Kids-Connect and we don't want Mike to see it, and kill us".

"Well, it's a good thing I nicked from the office a convenient sheet of paper with his password on it, isn't it?"

"You are a life-saver," said Evie.

"Don't remind me about that, Evie".

We all scrambled to the office, unlocking it with a key Elektra had stolen from the office ages ago. We all seemed to have stolen something from the careworkers without them realising. I entered the password – spaghettihoops – and removed the comment quickly. Result.

* * *

><p>After lunch, which was spaghetti bolognese, I was walking to my bedroom when I heard soft crying. I walked towards the crying, coming to the attic. I went up the stairs and found Siren sitting on a beanbag, crying, her make-up streaming down her face like her tears.<p>

"Oh my god, what is it Siren?" I asked.

"Rick. He just dumped me and went over to Lorna and asked her to be his girlfriend. She said no, but he just dumped me for no reason. It was all over in about a minute," she said, sobbing manically. This was it. I didn't care what Rick did to other people, but he almost certainly wasn't going to hurt my sister like this.

I stormed down the stairs and pushed past Carmen on my way along the landing. I reached the stairs and ran down them, making as much noise as I could.

"Where's Rick?" I asked to Evie, who was eating jam on toast.

"In there," she said, gesturing the lounge.

I flung the lounge door open. Rick was on the sofa listening to his iPod. I couldn't help sniggering as he noticed he was listening to the VICTORiOUS Soundtrack (that show off Nickelodeon with Victoria Justice, Elizabeth Gillies and Ariana Grande in it, who, by the way, are so hot it's unbelievable). I yanked the headphones out of his ears and chucked the iPod on the pool table, where it landed with a loud CRACK. I started strangling Rick, who punched me in the stomach. I let go, and he kicked me. I punched him right in the face, but he grabbed my feet, so I couldn't move. I punched him in the stomach and he let go, blood trickling down his face from where I'd punched him before. He had a really bad nosebleed. Did I care? I kicked him where-it-hurts and he punched me in the stomach, winding me. Summoning all my strength, I punched him in the stomach one last time, sending him flying into the sofa. My nose bleeding madly, I walked out of the lounge, leaving blood on the carpet. Cara came up to me.

"Demon, what are you doing?" she asked.

"None of your business," I replied, storming off to my room.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm really pathetic at writing fights, and this is only my second big fight scene (after Demon vs. Johnny in Chapter 13). I hope the fight was pretty believable. I've been in enough to know what a good fight's like. The next chapter features a wolf, and a mean girl!<strong>


	23. Kristal Clear

I woke up with a small wolf licking my face.

I felt something warm and strange licking my face, and I cautiously opened my eyes to see a wolf sitting on my face. It was a very, very small wolf – only a cub – but it was a wolf on my face at 7:00am in the morning.

"Why is there a wolf on my face?" I asked nonchalantly.

"It decided to jump on the bed and then it discovered you were there too, so it jumped on your face," explained Evie cheerfully, who was fully dressed in dungarees despite the fact that it was only seven in the morning.

"Yes, but how did it get in the Dumping Ground?" I asked, noticing Tyler, Elektra, Lorna, Carmen and Rick next to Evie, in their pyjamas. I still hated Rick for what he did to Siren, though he'd said sorry to Siren, so that made things a tiny bit better. There was no way I would apologise for attacking him. Not in a million years.

"Well..." explained Carmen. "Rick woke up in the night because he heard a funny sound. He looked out his window and he saw a wolf in the garden, right?"

"Right..."

"And then he decided that he had to get it, so he went outside and got the wolf".

"And then it did a wee on him, apparently," intervened Tyler.

"Yes, thanks Tyler," said Rick.

"Then, he brought it inside and it howled a bit and Tyler found it, and you know Tyler, he blabs like _all the time_, so he ended up telling Evie, who told Lorna. At that point Gus woke up and asked us what was happening. We told him to go back to bed. Then Elektra woke up and asked what was going on and we told her to go back to bed but she saw the wolf sticking out from behind Evie eating some jam on toast, because Evie's tiny, and she loves jam on toast, and then Elektra realised that if Mike knew that we were keeping a wolf at the Dumping Ground, he would go mad, because we're not even allowed fish. And they don't bite. Or eat meat. So, Elektra said we needed to hide from Mike like when we locked ourselves in the cellar last week because Elektra posted the rude comment on Care-Kids-Connect. Tyler said that we needed to get you, because you're generally good at hiding and being sneaky and spying on people and stuff, so we came in here, the wolf jumped on you, and you woke up," said Carmen, panting at the end of her lengthy explanation.

"One quick question: does he have a name?" I asked.

"Erm... Jeffrey," explained Carmen.

"Jeffrey?" I asked.

"Jeffrey," she repeated.

"We need to hide in the cellar with the wolf, and lock it immediately," said Lorna.

"Wait, wait, wait. If we go in the cellar, Mike'll know we're missing and know something's up. Also, if we go in the cellar with the wolf and no food, he'll eat us," I said.

"Okay, we'll get some of that leftover beef we had last night. And those sausages that Mike got from the butchers yesterday, right?" asked Tyler.

"Right," I agreed. "Go down to the cellar in ten minutes, okay?"

"Gotcha," Elektra whispered, going off to get the sausages from the kitchen. The Elm Tree House Wolf Secret was on.

* * *

><p>Five minutes later, I crept along the hallway until I reached the cellar door. Bracing myself, I gently pushed the door open, and crept down the stairs to find Elektra, Tyler, Lorna, Evie and Rick in the cellar, Lorna cradling the wolf. The door opened slightly and we all panicked, thinking it was Mike, until Carmen popped her head round the door.<p>

"Is this the right meat?" she asked.

"Who cares? All we need is meat, we don't really care what kind it is," pointed out Tyler.

"Maybe he's a vegetarian?" pondered Evie.

"Have you ever heard of a vegetarian wolf?" asked Lorna.

"Are we being sexist? Maybe the wolf is a she," said Carmen.

"We checked," said Rick.

"How did he even get to be here, at Elm Tree House?" asked Evie.

"Wolves are similar to dogs, right?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Elektra. Everybody stared at her.

"What? It was in my science test," she explained.

"Well, dogs like really bad smells. If wolves are similar, they must like bad smells too," I said.

"And your point is?" asked Rick.

"It was drawn her by the smell of Tracy's cooking that we tipped in the outside bins when she wasn't looking".

"Genius!" shouted Elektra, a bit too loudly. The cellar door opened and Mike was framed in the doorway, hands on hips. We hid the wolf quickly.

"Why are you all up at 7:00am? Shouldn't you be in bed?" Mike inquired. "Something very special is happening today," he added as an afterthought.

"No," Elektra responded. The wolf let out a long, low howl.

"What was that?" Mike asked.

"Nothing. It was Tyler," I responded. Mike turned to Tyler, who made a wolf noise.

"If it was Tyler making a wolf howl, then what's that furry thing sticking out from behind Rick?" Mike asked.

"It's a cuddly toy," I said quickly.

"Really? I wasn't born yesterday, kids. Now tell me one thing, will you? Where on earth did you get that wolf?"

"Look, I woke up and saw it out my bedroom window. It was just there, so I went out and got it. Tyler saw it, and then he told Evie, and then all of us here got to find out about it. We decided to hide in the cellar so you didn't find out about it... but that plan didn't work," explained Rick.

"Evidently," added Mike. "Come on, I'll phone the RSPCA and get them to pick it up. Until then, we'll keep it outside. Come on, kids, back to bed". We trudged up the steps to find all the other kids there.

"Is that a wolf?" asked Kitty.

"Erm... yeah," Carmen said.

"Come on kids, I might as well tell you the good news, seeing as you're all here," Mike said, as we filed into the lounge. We all sat down on the sofas, and I sat on the pool table.

"Right kids, you'll never believe what's happening today," Mike said.

"Tracy's going to never cook food for us ever again?" asked Tyler.

"No," Mike replied. "We have a new girl joining us today. She is 13 years old and her name is Saskia Jones. I want you to make her feel at home and make her feel like she fits in here at Elm Tree House".

"So basically... we need to stop Demon attacking anybody?" asked Oscar.

"Thanks, Oscar!" I said sarcastically.

"That's a good point, Oscar. Be on your best behaviour, all of you. Yes, Elektra, you included," Mike said.

"Listen to Mike, _Mandy Perkins_," teased Johnny. This prompted Elektra to push him right off the sofa with one flick of her hand, like she was swatting away a fly.

"Accident," she explained.

* * *

><p><em>10:00am<em>

The doorbell rang. The new kid was here. What was her name – Saskia? I put down my notepad on my desk, and left my room, walking downstairs to see the new girl. The other kids were already there. Mike, Gina and Tracy were there too. Gina opened the door, and a girl with long brown hair ending in blonde hair at the bottom. She was wearing a pink skirt and a multi-coloured shirt with a white coat over the top.

"Ah good, Saskia I presume?" said Mike. The careworker, Emrys, nodded.

"The new kid?" asked Tracy.

"_Kid? _Just the one?" asked Emrys.

"Yeah, we're only getting Saskia," Tracy explained.

"No you're not," replied Emrys as four other kids came through the door.

"What in the name of laundrettes?" asked Evie, surveying the new kids. One was a girl of Elektra's age with shoulder-length black hair, long eyelashes and a huge jangly necklace. The next was a boy a bit older than Rick who had short black hair and a long, thin face. Next to them were a boy of Oscar's age with brown hair who was wearing an orange shirt, and a boy a year or two younger than me.

"Why are there five kids?" asked Gus, frantically scribbling in his notebook.

"You're getting five, like it or not," Emrys said.

"What the-?" started Elektra.

We filed into the lounge, leaving the careworkers to pick up the kids' bags.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" asked Lily, indicating all the kids bar Saskia.

"Kristal Jameson," replied the oldest girl, who was a diva like Viva.

"Percy. Why do you care?" replied the boy who was maybe ten years old.

"I'm Aaron Miltons and this is Matty McNamara". Aaron was the boy of Oscar's age, with Matty the one of Rick's age.

"Why did Percy not say his surname?" asked Gus. "Is he embarrassed about it?"

"No, shut up you little $#*!," said Percy.

"Oscar, Harry, you never heard that word," said Cara, as all the kids gasped in shock.

"Hey, look, it says on this document-," said Elektra, "-that Percy's surname is... O'Hara".

"Shut up!" replied Percy, jumping off the sofa and running after Elektra, shrieking.

"How do we cope with this lot?" asked Tyler.

"We get rid of them... hopefully," replied Carmen, staring at him with concern in her eyes.

* * *

><p>That day at lunchtime, Gina called us all for lunch and we all filed into the kitchen... to find the five new kids (who came from a home named Turtle Care) already there, eating toasties.<p>

"Erm, Gina, how come they've already got their toasties?" asked Tyler inquisitively.

"They were here first, Tyler," replied Gina. "Now kids, we only have enough bread for ten more toasties, so a few of you are you are going to have to go with salad or something".

"What?" protested the Elm Tree kids.

"But Kristal, Percy, Aaron and Matty have each got two toasties. How's that fair? Can't they give one of their toasties each to us?" asked Lily.

"We're really hungry," said Kristal over-exaggeratingly.

"I'm sure we're going to _really _get along," I said sarcastically.

* * *

><p>After lunch we were in the living-room. Tee had been doing the washing-up and Matty had covered her in soap suds and drenched her in water, causing Carmen to go and try to attack him. However, Aaron had tipped custard all over her hair. We had all gathered in the living room and had spent a happy ten minutes insulting each other as much as possible.<p>

"Sorry kids, there's been a mix-up," said Tracy, appearing in the doorway. "Matty, Aaron, Percy-wherever you are-, you're out. Emrys got the wrong carehome this morning, but he's back now to pick you up".

"Fine. I wouldn't wanna spend another minute here anyway," said Aaron, traipsing wearily out of the room.

"Saskia, Kristal, stay here".

"Okay. That's crystal clear," replied Kristal. When Tracy had left, she said, "How do you stupid idiots live in this dump of a home?"

"That is it," I replied, lunging at Kristal, who screeched and pulled at my hair. I ignored her feeble attempts at hurting me, and gave her an almost immediate black eye.

"Would you like to leave as well?" I asked.

"I don't want to be in a care home with _you_, if that's what you mean," she replied. "Emrys, I want to leave!" she called, exiting the room.

"You got rid of her!" shouted Tyler excitedly.

Saskia turned to me. "Don't do that punchy thing to me. I'd want to retaliate, but I'm a Buddhist. So don't hurt me. Is that clear?"

"Kristal clear," I replied, smiling.


	24. What Was In Johnny's File

That night, I was thinking before I went to sleep. On the day when Mand-Elektra, sorry – and I had read everybody's files, I was sure that I had seen something alarming in Johnny's file. I think that I had seen my name in there. It could have just been something like: _Johnny has a huge rivalry with Demon Traylen_, though it could be something big. I needed to make sure that it wasn't something big. Which meant I had to get his yellow file again.

When I woke up the next day, the first thing I did was go to Elektra's room. I knocked on the door, and didn't wait for a response, walking into the room. Elektra was in her pyjamas, asleep. Not for long. I jumped all over the bottom of the bed, shaking the bed so much Elektra fell right out of it, onto the floor.

"What did you do that for, you freak?" she asked. Her hair was in a huge mess and she hadn't yet put in her blue extensions. She looked like a complete freakshow.

"Have you seen your hair today?" I asked.

"Demon! Why are you here?" she asked angrily, wrenching her blue hair extensions off her bedside table and putting them in her hair. "At seven in the morning?" she added, glancing at her clock.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to read everybody's files again. I need to check something in Johnny's file. You seem to like reading people's files, so I wondered if you wanted to do that".

"Yeah, I want to do that, but really? At seven in the morning?"

"Sorry," I replied. "You probably want to go back to sleep".

"Yes. Eleven o'clock, we'll read the files, 'K?"

"Okay," I replied, jumping up and down on the bed one more time and shaking her onto the floor again. I ran out of the room before she had a chance to strangle me to death.

* * *

><p><em>11:00am<em>

At 11:00am, I found Elektra waiting on the stairs.

"You got Gina to go out into the garden, yeah?" I asked.

"Yeah. I told her a squirrel was eating her lettuces," she replied.

"Good".

"You know what to do, right?" she asked me.

"Of course I do. Who's files do you want? I can only get two for you, at the most," I replied.

"Who do I hate the most?" she wondered. "Got it! Get Viva and Tyler's files".

"'K".

I walked up to the office, and knocked on the door. Gina was in the garden and Mike elsewhere. Tracy was in there. "Come in!" she shouted, and I walked in.

"Mike says he wants Johnny, Viva and Tyler's files. Is it okay if I get them?"

"Yeah. Go ahead," she said, handing me the key. Wow, she was dumb. I unlocked the cabinet and pulled out the files I needed.

"Thanks," I replied, leaving the office. Elektra was outside. I high-fived her and handed her the files she wanted. She went off to her room and I went off to my room to read Johnny's file.

* * *

><p>I sat on my bed, reading Johnny's file. <em>What could I find in here?<em> I wondered excitedly, reading through _the_ file:

_Johnny and his sister Tee were treated cruelly by their mum's boyfriend_, blah blah blah, _moved to Elm Tree House in 2007_, blah blah blah, _played tricks on Tyler during a power cut_, blah blah blah, _huge enemies with Demon Traylen. Keep them as far apart as possible_, blah blah blah, _allergic to cat hairs, _blah blah blah, _he and his sister Tee are directly related to Demon and Siren Traylen, _blah blah blah. Wait – what? My heart was beating madly. Did I really just read that? I re-read the paragraph:

_Johnny and his sister Tee are directly related to Demon and Siren Traylen. Johnny was born 2 October 1999 to Bobby Traylen and April Taylor. _My parents. _His sister Tee was born 18 July 2000, again to Bobby Traylen and April Taylor. Siren, the oldest Traylen-Taylor child, was born March 19 1998 to the same parents, and her brother Demon was born 15 September 2000, again to Bobby Traylen (who was thought to have died in 2003, though is in fact now in prison) and April Taylor. We at Elm Tree decided to always call Johnny and Tee by the surname 'Taylor', and always call Demon and Siren by the surname 'Traylen' so that Johnny and Demon, who are huge rivals, do not find out about this secret. We at Elm Tree are sure that if any one of the four Traylen-Taylor kids finds out about this secret, they will be deeply affected._

Too damn right! This changed everything. How could I be related to my worst enemy in the whole world, Johnny Taylor? Even if I was his actual real-life brother, I didn't want to be. I wanted Johnny to be out of my life, but instead he was further into it than ever before. I seriously didn't understand this. Why hadn't the careworkers just told me I was related to Johnny? I absolutely hated him, though. Johnny was my worst enemy, and also my brother. That didn't make sense. And I still had to think about Tee. I was related to her too. How come me, Siren, Tee and Johnny all looked completely different? Johnny had brown hair, Tee had blonde-brown hair, Siren was blonde and I had black hair. We all looked completely different. Maybe this was a joke. Maybe Elektra put that in when she wasn't my friend, when I arrived. Could that be possible? No. This was a true fact: I was related to Johnny and Tee Taylor. I couldn't take this, and my head was buzzing. I flopped onto the bed, unconscious.

* * *

><p>I woke up and realised I had fainted. The file had said 'if any one of the four Traylen-Taylor kids finds out about this secret, they will be deeply affected'. The file was right.<p>

I ripped the page out of Johnny's file, and stormed over to Elektra's room, clutching the page in my hands. I knocked on the door as hard as I could, to a reply of "Come in".

I'd only been out for five minutes, and Elektra was still reading Viva and Tyler's files on her bed.

"Woah! You look angry! What's rattled your... rattle?" she asked.

"This," I said, showing her the page. She gasped.

"No," she said. "Just... no. It's got to be a joke, it's got to be. You, related to Johnny Taylor?"

"I thought it was a hoax too. It's not. It's genuine. All the facts line up perfectly. I seriously can't believe this".

"Neither can I. This is ridiculous".

"Well, what do we do? We can either pretend we have no idea about it, or throw a huge screamy fit," I said.

"Well, Tee and Siren are coming in like, two minutes. We've got to tell them. Now, you better tell Johnny and Mike".

"Right. Thanks, Lex," I said, storming out of the room. I angrily ran down a flight of stairs and walked along a corridor to reach Johnny's bedroom. I knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" asked Johnny, from inside the room.

"Demon".

"Go away".

"No, Johnny, this is _important_".

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you out here. I don't want people knowing". After a long pause, Johnny invited me in.

"What is it?" he asked, sitting at his desk. I stood over him like a stern teacher surveying a child's work. I showed him the page and he read it. It took him a long time. He must have been a very bad reader.

"Spill the beans. How did you fake this?" he asked.

"It's not a fake".

"Well, how can it be true?"

"I don't know. As soon as you've finished, I'm going straight to Mike about it".

"I don't believe it".

"All the facts are true. They line up perfectly. This is real, Johnny".

"Oh my gosh, it is! My mum used to talk about two lost siblings who had gone to live somewhere else, when I was little. That must have been you and Siren. I thought it was a story, but it was real. You're my brother," he realised.

At that moment, a silver BMW pulled up outside the house. Tee and Siren came out from the car, smiles on their faces.

"Tee, Siren!" I shouted out the window. They looked up. "Get here now!" I shouted. Within a minute, they were in the room.

"Hey Demon," said Siren.

"Hi Johnny," said Tee. "What's wrong?"

"Lots. Read this page," he said, shoving the page at the two girls, who read it quickly.

"How long did it take for Elektra to make this?" asked Siren, shaking.

"It's real. All the facts are true. They all fit. Tee, remember the story that mum told us, about the two lost siblings? That wasn't a story. It was real. The two lost siblings... are Demon and Siren," said Johnny. Tee started shaking like Siren.

"It's true," she whispered. "I'm related to Demon and Siren Traylen".

"Well, come on, no time for a family reunion, we're going to see Mike," I said, standing up and walking out of the room, Johnny, Tee and Siren following. We walked down the corridor, down the stairs, and to the office door. I pushed it open, and we all went in.

"Mike, you have some serious explaining to do," I said, holding up the page.

"Oh, hello Siren, Tee. What's this?" he said, putting his glasses on and studying the paper.

"Ah," he stammered nervously. "Y-y-you found out".

"Why did you keep it a secret?" asked Siren. "You could have at least told us about it".

"Yeah, who cares if Demon and Johnny hate each other? You could have told me and Johnny that Demon and Siren were our siblings," said Tee.

"You shouldn't keep a secret as big as that," Siren pointed out.

"This is gonna affect our whole lives," Johnny stuttered, his voice breaking nervously.

"Mike Milligan, you are a mean careworker," I said, as the four of us left the room, to desperate cries of, "Kids, I was going to tell you-" from Mike. We slammed the door shut. We were just going to have to live with the fact that we were related.


	25. Exiled

**As usual, thanks again to everybody who's read and reviewed the story. Your reviews mean a lot to me. We're nearly at the end of the story sadly, with Chapter 28 being the last one. Do you think I should continue the story after Chapter 28 or not? I'd love to keep writing about Demon, but my only concern is that Tracy Beaker Returns will have finished on telly by the time that A Demon at Elm Tree House has finished. If Tracy Beaker Returns is not on telly, then less people would read the story in theory. So, I'd love to know what you think. Should I continue or not? If I decide to continue, I hope you keep reading the story. Sorry about the very long note. Let's get on with the story!**

* * *

><p>The four of us sat together at lunch - me, Johnny, Siren and Tee. Mike and Gina were at the table too, with Tracy, Harry and Oscar on the bar-stool chairs.<p>

"Look, kids, we meant to tell you, it's just that you found out first, yeah?" Gina said.

"Found out _what _first?" asked Carmen.

"That Johnny, Tee, Demon and Siren are siblings," Mike said. I could hear the sounds of everybody's jaw dropping in amazement.

"Really?" inquired Carmen. "No, I don't believe that".

"It's true," pointed out Tracy, Gina and Mike at exactly the same time.

"So how come they didn't know about it until today?" asked Carmen.

"We thought it would be a bad idea to tell them," explained Mike.

"Right..." Carmen tried to understand.

"I still can't believe it's true. Johnny related to Demon? Do we have to call them Traylen-Taylor now? Tee Traylen-Taylor, could you pass the juice?" asked Carmen inquisitively.

"Don't be silly, Carmen. Think how you'd feel if you just found that your brother was Tyler. Now kids, as you know we are having a new careworker joining temporarily this afternoon. I want you to all be on best behaviour. His name is Orenthal Clapton and he's read all of your files already, so he knows everything about you, so be good," Gina explained.

"Yay! New careworker! How exciting!" enthused Elektra, clapping her hands in mock amazement.

"Can't wait!" I exclaimed sarcastically.

* * *

><p>"He's here! Orenthal's here!" yelled Oscar, his voice echoing and reverberating through the whole house. The door was wrenched forwards and a tall, burly man with a comical moustache came through the door. He was wearing a sky-blue shirt and blue jeans. He had close-cropped black hair, and a long thin face. He looked old and experienced. I remembered Mike saying before, "<em>Orenthal knows a lot about discipline in care kids<em>". Eek!

His first act after coming through the door was surveying all the kids.

"Let's see... Elektra, Lorna, Rick, Tyler, Johnny, Lily, Carmen, Kitty, Evie, Cara, Gus, Harry, Oscar," he said in his gruff voice, pointing at each of us in turn. "And... Avalon," he added, pointing at... Viva, who suddenly went very red.

"I'm sorry, Avalon?" I asked. "Her name's Viva".

"I've read her file, young man. Her birth name was Avalon McPhee and she has since adopted the nickname Viva," replied the careworker who I was disliking more and more by the minute.

"Wait... Viva's really called Avalon?" asked Carmen, laughing.

"Well done, bright spark," replied Orenthal, who then suddenly started pointing at me with an accusing finger.

"Are you Demon Traylen?" he asked.

"Er... yes".

"You're out. Get out of this care home. I don't care where you go, but you're never coming back. Never again. Pack your bag, I want you out within thirty minutes". "What? How's that fair?" I asked, awestruck at Orenthal's order.

"You can't get rid of Demon!" protested Elektra.

"There's too many kids in this care home. Demon's the naughtiest, so he's out. If you kick up a fuss, you'll be next, _Mandy_". Elektra glared at him. I couldn't believe this. Orenthal was mad. True, Elm Tree House had 16 kids, and maybe a new part-time member of staff was needed, but he still wouldn't chuck out a child just because we had too many kids? I have human rights, and I wouldn't stand this. I stormed upstairs angrily amidst all the havoc caused by Orenthal's revelation, Elektra, Kitty, Tyler, Johnny and Rick following me. They trailed behind me all the way to my room, where I slammed the door in their faces. I was brimming with anger.

After a few seconds the combined weight of Elektra, Kitty, Tyler, Johnny and Rick pushed over the chair I'd used to barricade the door.

"You're not just going to accept this, are you?" asked Rick, concerned.

"No," I replied, taking my rucksack out of my wardrobe and slamming the door.

"Anything you want before you go?" asked Johnny.

"One thing. Can someone go downstairs and punch that idiot in the face," I asked, my voice breaking with anger.

"Happily," Tyler agreed.

"Maybe if you punch him, he'll chuck everyone out and use the Dumping Ground as his own personal fairground," I suggested.

"Seriously Demon, this'll be okay. You can live just outside the Dumping Ground gates, and we'll sneak you food and stuff. Don't worry," said Elektra.

"Thanks, Lex. I'll be okay, though," I said, packing the rest of my stuff into my rucksack and running upstairs to the attic, where I grabbed a suitcase. I ran back down to my bedroom and told the others to go, so they did.

Ten minutes later, when I'd completely finished packing, I walked downstairs... to a riot!

All of the kids were screaming and one or two of the adults too. Orenthal's face was going redder and redder by the minute and I think he could have been used as a human traffic light. Sapphire, who was visiting for the day, was screeching loudly at Orenthal and Mike was pulling a screaming and kicking Tyler off of Carmen. Gina was trying to usher all of the kids outside and Gus was frantically writing everything down in his notebook. Elektra was swinging round the banisters of the stairs yawning.

Suddenly, Tracy blew a whistle loudly. Everybody stood still and silent.

"Orenthal, you can't do this. Empathise. How would you feel if you were Demon? Until the beginning of this year, he thought his father had been dead for ten years. He was left on the streets and abandoned by his mum when he was barely three years old, and he's been in more care homes than you could possibly imagine. Just this year, he's been hit by a speeding car, been pushed down the stairs, and become paralysed from the waist down. Then, he found out that he had a sister for the first time ever. Then, he nearly got killed by his dad, who was in fact alive, and then he got burnt in a huge fire," said Tracy. "Do you really think this is fair?"

"Yes," was the simple reply.

"It's okay," I said. "Orenthal wants me out, I'll go".

"No, Demon," warned Tracy.

"Bye guys," I sighed, taking a last glance at everybody and walking out the door. It was at this point that I realised that I had absolutely no idea where I was going to go. I thought about the bus stop, but I didn't know how long Orenthal wanted me gone for, and I knew that I couldn't live at the bus stop forever. Maybe I could live right outside Elm Tree House, and make sure Orenthal didn't see me. Nah. I had a genius idea. I was going to spend my time away from Elm Tree House, at Elm Tree House.

I waited for ten minutes or so after I'd left, and then slipped through the heavy iron gates, keeping low to the ground so nobody would see me. I had my backpack on my back and I hauled my suitcase along the ground. As I reached the garden round the back of Elm Tree House, I noticed Orenthal. _Why does he have to be there, now? _I asked myself in my mind. _Wait – what's he doing? _I thought. Orenthal was smoking! I could see the smoke, and the cigarette. Smoking was banned in and around Elm Tree House. Orenthal was illegal! I grabbed my phone and recorded this for later.

I sneaked round the other way, reaching the kitchen. I saw Orenthal finishing his cigarette and chucking it on the ground. Gina was in the kitchen, making chicken wraps. She left the kitchen, and I opened the door, scrambling into the kitchen. I edged along slowly, and then I reached the door of the kitchen, just as Orenthal opened the kitchen door. I ran, bumping into Carmen on the way, up the stairs and to the attic, Carmen, Johnny, Tyler, Rick, Elektra, Lily, Oscar and Saskia following. I chucked my suitcase on the floor.

"Hey guys," I said.

"Demon!" cried Lily. "Aren't you supposed to be as far away from here as possible".

"I'm supposed to be. But I'm staying here. The only thing is, I need you to all promise not to snitch on me".

"Promise," agreed Johnny.

"Promise," agreed Tyler.

"Promise," agreed Rick.

"Promise," agreed Elektra.

"Promise," agreed Oscar.

"Promise," agreed Saskia.

"Promise," agreed Lily.

"It's really hard for me to not tell secrets to everyone," pondered Carmen. This earned glances from Rick, Tyler and Saskia.

"Fine, I promise," she agreed.

"Good. I'm living up here," I said. "Oh, and also, watch this". I handed Elektra my phone, and she played the video, gasping as she realised what Orenthal was doing.

"He's illegal!" she realised.

"WHO'S UP THERE?" roared Orenthal.

Carmen went down the attic stairs.

"Only me and Lily," I heard her say. She squealed as Orenthal pushed her over and stormed up the stairs. He saw me.

"Well, well," he said. "Demon Traylen".

"That's my name," I responded.

"Get back out, NOW!" he yelled, with the volume of a lion roaring.

"You want me to show the police _this_?" I asked, holding out the phone, the video playing. Orenthal looked panicked.

"You-you know what, you can stay here. We've found a foster home for Evie and Oscar to go, even before I arrived. So, that's freed up a bit of space. Gina's on the phone now to a specialist care home to see if Kitty can stay there, four days a week. So-so you can stay".

"Not enough," I replied. "I want you to get out too".

"But-!" he protested.

"No buts. Unless you want me to show this to the police. I imagine the prison food will taste _lovely_," I said sarcastically.

"Promise not to tell anybody about the smoking, and I'll leave," Orenthal agreed.

"Demon's a good guy," said Lily. "He'll keep his side of the bargain, if you keep yours".

I decided to directly quote Orenthal. To his face. "You're out. Get out of this care home. I don't care where you go, but you're never coming back. Never again. Pack your bag, I want you out within thirty minutes".

Orenthal sucked his teeth, and descended the attic stairs. Job done. Orenthal was gone.


	26. Paint and Valentines

**Sorry it's been a while since I last updated - I've been too busy to keep writing this, the penultimate chapter. Thanks to your support, I have decided to continue the story after Chapter 27, the final one. The new part of the story will be published seperately as "The Demon Traylen Files" and will be pretty much a straight continuation of this story. If you favourited this story, make sure to favourite 'The Demon Traylen Files' when it comes out in two weeks time... Enjoy...**

* * *

><p>"So... Orenthal was smoking and you found out. You decided to come back but Orenthal found you and you threatened to show the police the video if he didn't clear off?" asked Mike uneasily.<p>

"Yeah," I confirmed.

"You know what, Demon Traylen, you lie nearly as much as Tracy used to".

"Oi!" warned Tracy, walking into the office.

"I'm not lying!" I protested.

"Look, we appreciate the fact that you have a vivid imagination, Demon," Mike said.

"_We? We?_"

"Me, Tracy and Gina. Look, just forget it. If you're not going to tell me the real reason Orenthal left, go on Demon. Out you go". I sighed, angry that he didn't believe my story, and left the office, to find most of the kids gathered on the stairs and by the door. Outside I could glimpse a silver Ford Mondeo and I realised that the foster family was here to take Evie and Oscar away. I wasn't really too sad, and I wasn't going to miss either of them that much. Oh well, things happen.

"Bye Oscar and Evie!" cried Carmen. I couldn't see who it was, but it had to be Carmen Howle, the born optimist who always smiled and did nice things. Apart from when she punched Johnny. And when she set fire to Tyler and Rick's stuff. I'd heard about these times by people.

"Bye!" shouted Evie, a piece of jam on toast wedged between her mouth.

"Bye!" screamed Oscar.

"Good bye, Oscar," said Mike. "I hope you have a great time with the Nicolsons'. Remember Evie, if you ever need to come back, we'll have some jam on toast ready for you".

Evie laughed, and left.

"Bye," said Oscar, and went out, climbing into the car. We all waved at them as the car sped off, past the gates and down the road.

"I miss them already. Well, at least we won't have to spend so much money on jam on toast," reasoned Tracy.

"Tracy!" warned Mike, mimicking her warning from before, when we were in the office.

"Oi! I've got enough trouble as it is, without you mimicking me!" teased Tracy.

"Why have you got enough trouble as it is?" asked Gus, his notebook by his side.

"Because... well, I'll tell you all tomorrow. I should have it ready by then," she explained, ruffling Gus' hair and walking away. I ran up the stairs and walked along the corridor until I reached my black bedroom, where I flopped down on the bed. I grabbed my iPod, flicked to 'Videos', then 'TV Shows'. I scrolled down the extensive list and found 'Fawlty Towers' – the best TV show ever made. I scrolled down the episode list – I had downloaded all twelve episodes – and picked an episode at random. The episode began with its music which could only belong to the 1970s. I laughed at the sign which was supposed to read 'FAWLTY TOWERS'. It read something very rude. I kept watching the episode for about ten minutes, when there was a sharp knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Lily," came the reply.

"What do you want?" I asked inquisitively.

"Just let me in," she demanded.

"Yes, ma'am," I agreed sarcastically, and she came in.

"Right. What do you want?" I asked.

"Well, it's kinda complicated. The social worker came last week, as you know, and said that Poppy and Rosie could come to the Dumping Ground one day a week. So, they're coming tomorrow, but I need to go out to town with Carmen and Tee. So... can you take care of Poppy and Rosie for tomorrow?"

"Can't you just tell Poppy and Rosie to come the day after?"

"No".

"Well..."

"Please Demon. Come on, we're friends!" she pleaded.

"Since when were we friends?"

"Well, since now. And anyway, I wanna be friends with you. You got rid of Kristal".

"I did," I agreed. "'K, I'm friends with you. And I'll take care of Poppy and Rosie, tomorrow only". A thought flashed into my mind. "No wait! I promised Harry I'd take care of him tomorrow!"

"Well, you can take all three of them, can't you?"

"Er... yep". She left. This was going to be tough.

* * *

><p>It was 10am, and Poppy and Rosie had just arrived. Harry bounced up to me.<p>

"Hi Demon," he said.

"Hi Harry. What do you want to do... first?" I asked, unable to comprehend the fact that I was playing with an eight-year-old and not wanting to punch them.

"Can we do painting?" he asked.

"Sure," I replied. "I'll get the painting stuff ready, and we'll go in the kitchen in a few minutes, okay?"

"Yeah".

"Oh, and Harry? We're going to have to do it with Poppy and Rosie today, because I promised Lily I'd take care of them. Is that okay with you and Jeff?"

Jeff nodded his head and Harry started bouncing off with Jeff. Poppy and Rosie bounded up to me.

"Are you taking care of us today, Demon?" asked Rosie.

"How do you know my name?"

"Lily's told us about you," replied Poppy.

"And Lily's told me about you too," I said. "Do you want to do painting with Harry, or something different?"

"Painting," they both said in unison. Great. Three young kids and some paint. What could go wrong?

* * *

><p>Thirty minutes later, I was sitting in the kitchen, drenched in paint. This is what happened:<p>

_I got the painting stuff and set it up on the table. Poppy, Rosie and Harry arrived. Okay, and Jeff. They all arrived, and then we started painting. Poppy started painting a flower, Rosie started painting a blob and Harry decided to paint Jeff. Poppy finished pretty quickly and decided to paint round her hand. This went really good. Then Rosie decided to do a picture of Poppy. Poppy wasn't too happy with the picture and decided to squirt the paint all over Rosie. Poppy started squirting the paint in Rosie's direction but Rosie ducked and the paint went all over me. Poppy realised what she'd done and decided to keep on going. Rosie and Harry decided to join in and each grabbed some paint, squirting it all over me until I was a huge orange-purple-black monster creature._

Tracy came into the kitchen.

"Poppy, Rosie, can you just- OH MY GOD!" She started laughing hysterically.

"Okay, I got covered in a little bit of paint," I admitted.

"More than a little bit!" she cried through bursts of laughter.

"What's all the fuss about- what happened here?" asked Mike, sniggering. I relayed my story to him and he believed it, for once.

"Come on Demon, we're going to have to get all of this off you," said Mike. "Somehow," he added hastily.

"Thanks for the support," I said sarcastically. Mike dragged me up to the bathroom, where he left me to have a shower and then get changed. So much for Demon's daycare.

* * *

><p><em>Three months later (February)<em>

"Right guys, listen up cos' this is important and ever so slightly romantic," said Tracy to wolf-whistles from everybody. Tracy had announced enthusiastically that her plan, which she'd been formulating for ages in November and decided to put on hold until now, was complete.

"Romantic?" asked Tyler, disbelieving. "Yuk".

"Romantic?" asked Saskia, still disbelieving. "Romantic?" she added.

"Yes, romantic," confirmed Tracy.

"Why on earth would we be doing romantic stuff at Elm Tree House?" asked Saskia.

"Because tomorrow is Valentines' Day," realised Rick.

"Oh my god," I said.

"So, Elm Tree House is holding, for the first time in absolutely ages, a Valentines' Day party!" screamed Tracy, to sighs from the boys and screams from the girls. "There's going to be cake and music and... a rule. Everybody has to go with somebody else". Everybody started protesting.

"Ah, ah, ah!" she shouted. "You can't go on your own".

"Can you go as... friends, with somebody?" asked Carmen.

"Yes, you can if you want to Carmen," replied Tracy. Somehow I could see this wouldn't work. I didn't do Valentines' Day.

* * *

><p>It was Valentines' Day, and the party was here. Well, not where I was anyway. They were starting the party downstairs and I was in my bedroom. Even if I had to be dragged there kicking and screaming, I wouldn't ever want to go to a Valentines Day party. All the lovey romantic stuff was yucky and disgusting. I could here the music and chatting and general romantic-ness. How lovely. Not.<p>

Elektra was going with Liam, who'd come along for the day.

Lorna was going with Rick.

Viva was going with Johnny. Urgh.

Tyler was going with Gus, against Gus' better judgement. It was a joke.

Carmen and Lily were going as friends obviously.

Cara was just hanging about. She didn't want to go with anybody either.

It was all yucky and the whole thing went on for about half an hour when there was a knock on the door. Lily came in, her hazel hair let loose. She was wearing a purple dress.

"Up here all alone?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Come on. Come with me, to the party. Friends".

"Friends," I agreed smiling.

Me and Lily Kettle. Friends.


	27. The Final Battle

"Hi... Xander. Erm... welcome to... Elm Tree House... I think," I said nervously, awestruck. I was facing Xander Roberts, a new kid who was twelve years old and had just joined that day, the day two days after the Valentines' Day Party. I'd been complaining to Mike how he got rid of two kids and brought another one in. It was getting annoying. My Mum would have said it was like Piccadilly Circus had she not gone mad. In the nineteen months since I first came to Elm Tree House and covered Johnny Taylor in orange juice, I'd met so many care kids I couldn't think straight: Liam, Frank, Carmen, Tee, Johnny, Gus, Elektra, Harry, Jeff, Rick, Kitty, Tyler, Lily, Mal, Lorna, Saskia, Cara, Viva, Oscar, Evie, Sapphire, Siren, Avani, Jamie, Kristal, Percy, Aaron and Matty. A lot of kids. But Xander was the strangest by far.

He was wearing a black leather jacket, black leather trousers and a black top – presumably not leather. He had close-cropped black hair and perfect white teeth. His face was round and he looked of an average weight. He'd probably spent hours trying to impressive everybody with his outfit.

"Hi there, erm, person. Obviously you haven't been in care long, have you? Not understanding the idea that care kids can wear leather if they want to," he said rudely. He had a hint of an Irish accent.

"I've been in care for nine years," I responded, my voice like ice.

"Oh-"

"In that time, I've found out I have three siblings who I never knew about, been hit by a speeding car, become paralysed from the waist down, pushed down some stairs by my arch enemy of four years, nearly been killed by my dad who I thought was dead, received third-degree burns from a fire, and worst of all, met you".

"Charming".

"It's all true, you know Xander," said Mike, coming down the stairs. "Demon's had a rough time lately. Lily, take Xander to his room".

"Where is his room, sorry?" asked Lily.

"Demon's room".

"What?" I protested. "You can't do that!"

"Why not?" asked Mike. "You're the same age, you'll get along perfectly. Leave Xander to settle in, and go up there in a few minutes".

"But-"

"No buts. You have to share with Xander. Anyway, we don't know how long he's going to be here yet. It could only be one week, we don't know if anybody else will take him. We're full enough as it is," said Mike, ruffling my hair.

Seething with anger, which was boiling up inside me, I waited for two minutes and then ran up the stairs and to my room to find Xander's stuff dumped on the floor and Xander in the room.

"Black? Really?" he asked.

"Yes, black".

"Black bedroom?"

"Black clothes?" I responded. "Got a problem with the room, you can go to Carmen's room, which is decorated with your favourite colour, probably. Pink".

"Fiery one, eh?" he asked.

"Only when I'm angry. Like now".

"I gather you're 'friends' with Lily, as she was telling me," he said, making inverted commas in the air when he said 'friends'.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. Just that Lily might be friends with me a bit more than she's friends with you soon. In fact, everybody might be friends with me a bit more than she's friends with you soon".

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm playing fair. No hints". He left the room.

"Idiot," I muttered as he left.

"Heard that".

"You were supposed to," I replied, slamming the door when he had gone. He was going to take all my stuff, I just knew it. He'd steal all my stuff and generally try to annoy me. How could I live with that _thing_ in the same house as me? It was me and Mal all over again. And I was really frustrated, because I couldn't work out the meaning of what Xander had said: _everybody might be friends with me a bit more than they're friends with you soon_. What was he going to do to make everybody like him? I was annoyed, so I grabbed my iPod from my desk and started watching Fawlty Towers.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, the episode ended, and I decided to see if Xander had actually done anything since he left. I traipsed down the stairs to the lounge, where Tyler launched himself at me angrily. I flicked him off with one arm and he retreated slightly.<p>

"Woah, Tyler".

"Woah, Demon. Why would you say that?"

"Say what?"

"You know what you said about me".

"And me," said Carmen.

"And me," said Lily. "And I thought we were friends, you complete idiot". What was going on? If this was Xander's plan, it was working well. Of course it was Xander's plan, he was sniggering behind the pool table. Gus had his notebook ready.

"Gus?" I asked.

"At 11:07, Xander is coming downstairs. He is telling everybody that he has found one of Demon's diaries and that Demon has written about every person in the Dumping Ground in them. He has a torn out page from the diary. According to that page, Elektra is a blue-haired freak who is so unhappy with her own hair that she had to change it to something even worse (if that's possible), Lorna is a loner, Rick is so stupid he should be in pre-school, Viva will never be successful at anything, Saskia is an idiot, Tyler is a bed-wetting freak, Johnny is an abomination to society, Cara is a stupid thing, I am a geeky nerd, Carmen is a smiling freak who nobody would dare foster, and Harry is an unsociable brat who skulks around with a toy giraffe. Oh, and Lily is the worst person in the whole Dumping Ground, who will never be fostered and is always moping on and on about her sisters," explained Gus. The whole thing miraculously only took about twenty seconds to say for him, the information flying out of his mouth like wind.

"What? I wouldn't say that about any of you. Elektra, I'm your friend! Johnny, I'm your brother! I wouldn't say any of this. Xander's just made it up! I don't even write a diary. Plus... that's not even my handwriting!" I protested, noticing the torn-out page of the notebook, which Xander was clutching in his hands. He was smirking, a grin spreading out across his face like a contagious disease.

"Demon, shut up. Get out of my life and don't go anywhere near me ever again," said Lily. She was adamant. She wanted me out. After all I'd been through, she hated me. And I thought we were friends.

"Just get out, you slut," warned Tyler.

"Never come back," suggested Rick. I glared at Xander, and left the room, a single tear trickling down my cheek. Everybody, Lily, Johnny, Elektra, everybody, they all hated me. I stormed up to my bedroom, tears streaming down my cheeks, and picked up Xander's things, hurling them out the room. They were strewn all over the corridor by the time I'd finished. I grabbed a chair, and used it to barricade the door. Good. No more Xander. I picked up my iPod and then put it down, remembering a song I'd heard on the radio once:

_Skies are crying, I am watching, catching teardrops in my hands._

Skies aren't crying, but I am.

_Only silence, as it's ending, like we never had a chance_

Me and Lily never had a chance.

_Do you have to, make me feel like, there's nothing left of me?_

Xander does.

_You can take everything I have, you can break everything I am, l__ike I'm made of glass, like I'm made of paper_

Xander had certainly done that. Everybody hated me.

_Go on and try to tear me down, I will be rising from the ground, like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper_

Wait! The song, Skyscraper, had made me feel better about myself. Xander had tried to tear me down, but I could rise from the ground, like the song said. I was going to go back to the lounge and prove that Xander had faked the diary page. I ran down the stairs, and turned into the lounge.

"What do you want, loser?" asked Lorna. Wait – what? Xander was getting ready to punch Lily. I could see it. He was smirking with glee and rubbing his fists together.

"Ah, Demon. Come to join the party?" asked Xander.

"Yes. We can have fairy cakes and play pass the parcel," I said sarcastically.

"Lily," said Xander.

"Yes?" asked Lily, turning around to face him.

"You are so stupid".

"Oh".

"You believed me. I was lying about everything, just so you'd hate Demon. I don't like you, I just wanted you to hate Demon. And everybody else. You even believed that the torn-out page was from one of Demon's notebooks. Demon was right – this isn't even his handwriting. He probably doesn't even write a diary. Did you think for one minute he'd call his best friend Elektra a blue-haired freak? But you let me fool you, and that's why you are so stupid, so right here, right now-"

He raised his fist, ready to punch Lily, but at the last second I dived at Xander and pushed him out of the way. He veered over and careered into the sofa. Just to make absolute sure that he wouldn't retaliate and try to hurt Lily, I punched him as hard as I could, in his face. He slumped onto the sofa, unconscious.

"Demon, oh my god, thank you! He was going to punch me!" cried Lily happily.

"Don't worry. I wanted to hurt that loser, he wanted to hurt you. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm fine. Seriously, thank you so much!"

"Honestly, don't worry. It was nothing".

I smiled. I was friends with Lily again. Just friends, nothing more... or so I thought...

* * *

><p><strong>Turns out... this isn't the last chapter! The next, and final, chapter will be shorter than the rest, with not much more than 500 words. It will clear up everything that has happened in the story, and is entitled 'Epilogue'. And a week or two after that... The Demon Traylen Files Chapter 1! Keep reviewing!<strong>


	28. Epilogue

_That night_

"Thank you. If he'd have punched me, I could be seriously hurt. And I can't believe he made us all think that you hated us. Sorry about that," said Lily. It was the same night, at 8am. Mike and Gina had found out about the Xander issue, and announced that they had found a new care home for him, so Xander left that night. It turned out that a care worker was in the area, and Mike phoned her up. She agreed to pick up Xander and take her to the care home she worked in. Secretly, as soon as Xander had left, we all celebrated. Everybody apologised to me about believing that I hated them, and generally, all was well. Me and Lily were talking inside Lily and Carmen's room.

"It's okay". After a long pause, Lily said:

"Empathise".

"What?"

"That's what Tracy said when Orenthal chucked you out three, four months ago. She said to empathise. She said that Orenthal should think about how he would feel if he was you. In one year, you've found out about Siren, Johnny and Tee, been hit by a speeding car, become paralysed from the waist down, been pushed down some stairs by Mal, nearly been killed by my dad who you thought was dead, and got burnt in the huge fire at Icehill. I empathised. I thought about how I would feel if I was you. And then I remembered the beach".

"Oh my god".

"You liked me, and you weren't afraid to tell me. I made a bad decision then, on that day, at the beach. I rejected you. I said no. But then, after that, I slowly began to realise that I like you. I really like you, Demon. You've been doing nice things for once. You got rid of Kristal and Xander, and you've been nicer than you were before. You stuck up for your sister when Rick was mean to her. After all that, I realised that you're actually a great guy".

"Thanks," I said modestly, unable to believe every nice thing she'd said.

"No really. You're funny and you can get rid of people who we don't like and you're kind of cute".

"Er... thanks. Really... thanks".

"You like me, Demon, yeah? And I don't mean as friends, I mean more than that. A lot more than that".

A decision. Oh my god, a decision. Do I like Lily, _not as friends, as more than that_. I realised what the answer was: yes.

"Yeah," I said nonchalantly.

"Guess what?" she asked.

"Erm... Carmen is going to stop wearing pink clothes?" I asked.

"No... you know what I mean. Guess what?"

"What? I don't know," I replied, trying not to get frustrated.

"You like me. I like you too," she said, leaning in to me. I knew what would happen next. She started kissing me passionately and I found myself kissing her back. After nearly fourteen months, this was actually happening. The kiss lasted for what seemed like ages, but was probably only a few seconds. If Gus was here, which would be creepy, I could imagine him with a stopwatch, counting exactly how long it lasted.

"Okay..." I said nervously. "That was good".

"Yeah it was," agreed Lily. "We should do it more often".

"We really should," I agreed, laughing.

We kissed once more, quickly, and walked downstairs, hand in hand.

**THE END**

* * *

><p><strong>There you go. It's taken nearly two and a half months to write all 35,000 words, making up 28 chapters featuring at least 39 characters, from the dastardly Demon Traylen-Taylor to Xander Roberts, Gemma the Nurse<strong>** to the malicious Mal Pearson. Thank you to all of my reviewers, thank you so much for taking the time to read and review my story, it means so much to me. I can't believe that it's over, after all this. But... is it over?**

**A new chapter of Demon's adventures at Elm Tree House will begin on 30 April, and will be entitled The Demon Traylen Files. So do make sure you favourite the new story when it comes out, and look out for it! Chapter 1 is entitled Demon Kettle!**

**Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story, and special thanks to Olivia1995, who reviews most chapters and has given lovely feedback as well as creating Saskia Jones, TheDamSnackbar for submitting Lorna Blackwood, Abrey98 for creating Evie King and Cookie05, who has reviewed nearly every chapter since the beginning. Goodbye for now, see you soon with The Demon Traylen Files,**

**BizarrePineapple15**

**March 2012**


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